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Exploring the Connection Between the Existence of Local Web Communities and Civic Activity: St. Petersburg Case Study

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Electronic Governance and Open Society: Challenges in Eurasia (EGOSE 2018)

Part of the book series: Communications in Computer and Information Science ((CCIS,volume 947))

Abstract

Active development of information and communication technologies in recent decades has significantly affected modern life in cities. Civil society has obtained e-participation tools, such as tools for sending electronic appeals on problems of the urban environment to the authorities to initiate their solving. At the same time, local web communities have emerged and are now widely spread due to social media. Within the framework of the research, it was suggested that the number and concentration of appeals on problems of the urban environment in individual local areas could be directly related to the existence of active web communities of residents in these territories. To test this hypothesis, appeals sent by residents of St. Petersburg for 2 years were analyzed. As a result, zones of high and low civic activity were identified, and local communities existing within the boundaries of these zones were studied. The hypothesis regarding the connection between the existence of local web communities in a certain urban area and civic activity was confirmed. At the same time, no clear correlation was identified between the headcount of local web communities and the number of appeals sent by residents of the territories to which these local communities belong. Further studies using alternative sources of appeals and new territories as examples will make it possible to supplement the existing data and to obtain a more accurate assessment of the relationship of the described factors.

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Acknowledgment

This research is financially supported by The Russian Science Foundation, Agreement #17-71-30029 with co-financing of Bank Saint Petersburg.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Design and Urban Studies, ITMO University, Birzhevaya Liniya 14, 199034, Saint Petersburg, Russia

    Sergei Kudinov, Ekaterina Ilina & Ekaterina Grekhneva

Authors
  1. Sergei Kudinov
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  2. Ekaterina Ilina
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  3. Ekaterina Grekhneva
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Sergei Kudinov .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. eGovernance Center, ITMO University, St. Petersburg, Russia

    Andrei Chugunov

  2. Institute of Communications Studies, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK

    Yuri Misnikov

  3. North-West Institute of Management, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration, St. Petersburg, Russia

    Evgeny Roshchin

  4. eGovernance Center, ITMO University, St. Petersburg, Russia

    Dmitrii Trutnev

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Kudinov, S., Ilina, E., Grekhneva, E. (2019). Exploring the Connection Between the Existence of Local Web Communities and Civic Activity: St. Petersburg Case Study. In: Chugunov, A., Misnikov, Y., Roshchin, E., Trutnev, D. (eds) Electronic Governance and Open Society: Challenges in Eurasia. EGOSE 2018. Communications in Computer and Information Science, vol 947. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-13283-5_25

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-13283-5_25

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  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-13283-5

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