Youth Awareness and Participation in Smart City Development in Malaysia

Abstract

This study investigates the awareness of Malaysian urban youth concerning intelligent city concepts and their potential as human capital in advancing smart city development. In the context of accelerated global urbanization and the rising demographic significance of young populations, youth engagement is becoming an essential component of sustainable urban transformation. However, empirical evidence on youth awareness and participation in smart city initiatives in Malaysia is still limited. To address this gap, a survey of 200 youths aged 15 to 30 in Putrajaya and Iskandar was conducted using purposive and convenience sampling. Respondents completed structured items adapted from established smart city frameworks, covering the six smart city dimensions and youths’ perceived roles in urban innovation, measured on a 5-point Likert scale.The findings reveal a substantial level of awareness among respondents, with strong recognition of key smart city elements such as digital infrastructure, sustainable environments and intelligent mobility systems. The majority also expressed positive perceptions of their responsibility and capability to contribute, with 81.5 percent strongly agreeing that youth should monitor smart city services and promote digital awareness. The results demonstrate that urban Malaysian youth constitute an underutilised human capital resource that can significantly support intelligent urban development. By integrating technological and human capital perspectives, this study enriches smart city literature with a people-centered analytical orientation. Policy implications suggest that national frameworks such as the Malaysian Smart Cities Framework should prioritise youth empowerment through education, digital skills enhancement and participatory planning to strengthen inclusive and future-oriented urban communities.ReferencesAli, M. (2020). Big data and machine intelligence in software platforms for smart cities. In Communications in computer and information science (pp. 17–26). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-59155-7_2Arnstein, S. R. (1969). A ladder of citizen participation. Journal of the American Institute of Planners, 35(4), 216–224. https://doi.org/10.1080/01944366908977225Barba-Sánchez, V., Orozco-Barbosa, L., & Arias-Antúnez, E. (2021). On the Impact of Information Technologies Secondary-School Capacity in Business Development: Evidence From Smart Cities Around the World. Frontiers in Psychology, 12. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.731443Becker, G. S. 1964. 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