Smart City Transition A Gendered Lens on Analysing Mobility Challenges among Marginalized Citizens in Hong Kong Calvin Ming Tsun Lai

DOI 10.60531/INSIGHTOUT.2024.2.8| LAI: SMART CITY TRANSITION_ INSIGHTOUT 2(2024) 47 Calvin Ming Tsun Lai Smart City Transition A Gendered Lens on Analysing Mobility Challenges among Marginalized Citizens in Hong Kong ABSTRACT While many municipal decision-makers view smart city development as the key direction for future urban development, concerns regarding potential social exclusion are emerging. Those social exclusions, manifested as the digital divide and access inequality, are further exacerbated by limited resources and lacking guidance for urban technology usage. Taking the COVID-19 pandemic as an example, where the usage of contact tracing applications became mandatory in Hong Kong, it was evident that citizens without access to these services faced restrictions on their movements, impacting their travel habits. This underlines the assumption that smartphone ownership is a basic human right to access digital services. This paper, using the post-pandemic period in Hong Kong as a case study, aims to investigate gendered differences in the usage of smartphone-based mobility services(SBMS). Through a territory-wide survey in 2023, along with expert and in-depth interviews, this paper reveals gendered differences encompassing types of SBMS, financial accessibility, daily travel routines, and encountered problems. This paper also delves into gendered attitudes towards smart mobility, revealing nuanced negativity across different aspects. These findings emphasize the importance of considering gendered differences when promoting digital mobility services as the primary option for future urban development initiatives . CV Calvin Ming Tsun Lai is a second-year PhD candidate in the Research Training Group KRITIS at the Technical University of Darmstadt’s Faculty of Architecture. Calvin specialises in smart and sustainable urban development, urban policy studies, and developing assessment tools for city development, and his current research focuses on the impact of urban digital transformation (primarily in the mobility sector) on society. Calvin has five years of experience working in Hong Kong’s and Germany’s research groups, including in the Department of Government and International Studies at Hong Kong Baptist University, and Urban Transitions at the Wuppertal Institute. He holds an MSc in urban planning from the University of Duisburg-Essen, and a BEng in industrial engineering from Hong Kong Polytechnic University. KEYWORDS Digital mobility services, Gendered differences, Smart city development, Smart mobility, Social exclusion Calvin Ming Tsun Lai,“Smart City Transition: A Gendered Lens on Analysing Mobility Challenges among Marginalized Citizens in Hong Kong”, i nsightOut. Journal on Gender and Sexuality in STEM Collections and Cultures, 2(2024), 46–58, DOI: 10.60531/insightout.2024.2.8 DOI: 10.60531/insightout.2.024.2.8 Published under license CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

DOI 10.60531/INSIGHTOUT.2024.2.8| LAI: SMART CITY TRANSITION_ INSIGHTOUT 2(2024) 48 Addressing accessibility barriers and tailoring services to meet gender-specific needs are crucial to enhance the inclusivity of smart mobility. play an important role not only in the development of the smart city concept, but also in individuals’ daily lives. During the Covid-19 pandemic in the early 2020s, smartphones were deemed the sole device to trace the movement of an individual. 4 In some senses, smartphones became a tool that controlled the movement of a citizen. This theory is magnified by the concept of smart mobility. Being one of the six branches under the smart city definition, 5, 6 smart mobility is defined as the use of technologies to assist mobility systems so that seamless and on-demand access can be delivered. 7 Mobility as a Service(MaaS) is a key concept that emerged under smart mobility Introduction for the transportation of people. 8, 9 The usage of mobility applications(apps) installed on a While the smart city was first promoted as a contem- smartphone is key to unlocking this digital service. 10 porary concept by IBM in the mid-2000s, referring This precondition raises the hidden concern of social to the increasing application of information and com- exclusion sugar-coated as smart mobility. munication technology(ICT) in urban infrastructure, the concept only truly thrived after modern smart- Hong Kong is a densely populated city in the south phones became available. 1, 2 Smartphones can thus of China. It is particularly worth studying because even be claimed to be an essential“infrastructure” of the availability of sophisticated multimodal transin daily life because they influence citizens’ habits, portation services, and the undoubtedly high smartas per the definition by Cass. 3 Indeed, smartphones phone penetration rate of the city. 11 In addition, Hong 1 Office of the Government Chief Information Officer,“Smart city development in Hong Kong”, IET Smart Cities , 1/1(2019), 23–27. 2 A. Birenboim and N. Shoval,“Mobility Research in the Age of the Smartphone”, Annals of the American Association of Geographers , 106/2(2016), 283–291. 3 N. Cass, T. Schwanen and E. Shove,“Infrastructures, Intersections and Societal Transformations”, Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 137(2018), 160–167. 4 M. Shahroz et al.,“COVID-19 Digital Contact Tracing Applications and Techniques: A Review Post Initial Deployments”, Transportation Engineering , 5(2021), 100072. 5 R. Giffinger et al., Smart Cities. Ranking of European Medium-Sized Cities. Final Report (Vienna, 2007). 6 C. M. T. Lai and A. Cole,“Measuring Progress of Smart Cities: Indexing the Smart City Indices”, Urban Governance , 3/1(2022), 45–57. 7 L. M. Calabrese,“Smart Mobility: The Cases of Hong Kong and the Netherlands”, JET , 2/1(2013), 145–150. 8 I. Docherty, G. Marsden and J. Anable,“The Governance of Smart Mobility”, Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, 115(2018), 114–125. 9 P. Jittrapirom et al.,“Mobility as a Service: A Critical Review of Definitions, Assessments of Schemes, and Key Challenges”, UP, 2/2 (2017), 13–25. 10 K. Pangbourne et al.,“Questioning Mobility as a Service: Unanticipated Implications for Society and Governance”, Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice , 131(2020), 35–49. 11 https://www.info.gov.hk/gia/general/202003/26/P2020032600444.htm(accessed 12 Apr. 2024) .

DOI 10.60531/INSIGHTOUT.2024.2.8| LAI: SMART CITY TRANSITION_ INSIGHTOUT 2(2024) 49 Kong was one of the cities that had strict regulations during the Covid-19 pandemic era, enforced the usage of specific digital services that were only accessible by smartphone, and had numerous backlashes against the mandatory usage of digital services. 12 Now that the pandemic era has concluded, discussions have arisen on the indirect acceleration of digitalisation in society, but further studies are still needed to quantify the extent of this impact. 13 This paper investigates how smartphone-driven urban digitalisation, particularly in smart mobility, impacts gender demographics. mobility is the first prioritised dimension of smart city development according to the official smart city development guidelines from the Hong Kong government(HKGOV). The official guideline clearly states the thirty-one initiatives under four smart mobility subgroups, which aim to promote environmentally friendly transportation, provide real-time traffic information, enhance data analytics for traffic management, and promote a pedestrian-friendly environment. 16 In short, Hong Kong currently sets smart mobility goals to promote active travel and enhance the data collection system. Hong Kong’s development within the current global smart mobility trend Hong Kong can be considered to demonstrate the best practice of transit-oriented development thanks to its well-established heavy rail systems. 14 The unique self-sustaining model“Rail plus Property” contributes to the low usage cost, thus maintaining the high ridership of the railway system. 15 In addition, the Octopus System, a widely-praised mobility-related technology in Hong Kong, also assists the prosperity of public transport development in Hong Kong. Being the first contactless smart card system in the world, the Octopus Card simplifies the ticketing of public transport with its rechargeable contactless stored value features, and over 95 per cent of Hong Kong’s citizens use Octopus Cards for daily travel. 7 Due to the exceptional performance of the public transport system in Hong Kong, smart Hong Kong’s public transport is well recognised, but its smart mobility is lagging behind in comparison. The Urban Mobility Readiness Index pointed out the underperformance of Hong Kong in autonomous transit and shared mobility, which is largely enabled by mobile apps. 17 The Cities in Motion Index, an evaluation system of smart city development that is deemed reliable, 6 highlighted mobility as a sluggish dimension in Hong Kong. 18 In addition, the IMD Smart City Index acknowledged the deficient performance of Hong Kong by confirming the persisting traffic congestion issue, which could be better reduced by mobility technologies via mobile apps. 19 This paper will thus deduce the gender differences in the usage of smartphone-based mobility services (SBMS), offering an exploratory insight to enable the next breakthrough in mobility development. 12 J. Ma,“No smartphone, no entry? Isolated by Covid-19 rules, Hong Kong’s elderly dread changes to‘Leave Home Safe’ mobile app”, South China Morning Post, 17 Jul. 2022. https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3185531/no-smartphone-no-entry-isolated-covid-19-rules(accessed 12 Apr. 2024). 13 Q. Liu et al.,“Smartphone-Based Services, Perceived Accessibility, and Transport Inequity During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A CrossLagged Panel Study”, Transportation research. Part D, Transport and environment , 97(2021), 102941. 14 B. P. Loo, C. Chen and E. T. Chan,“Rail-Based Transit-Oriented Development: Lessons from New York City and Hong Kong”, Landscape and Urban Planning , 97/3(2010), 202–212. 15 F. Jauregui-Fung, Land Value Capture and Transit Oriented Development as a Way of Funding Railway Systems: The Case of Hong Kong Rail+ Property Model (Bonn, 2022). 16 Office of the Government Chief Information Officer, Hong Kong Smart City Blueprint 2.0 (Hong Kong, 2020 ). 17 Oliver Wyman Forum, Urban Mobility Readiness Index 2022 (Berkeley, 2023). 18 IESE Business School, Cities in Motion Index 2022 (Madrid, 2022). 19 IMD World Competitiveness Center, IMD Smart City Index 2023 (Lausanne, 2023).

DOI 10.60531/INSIGHTOUT.2024.2.8| LAI: SMART CITY TRANSITION_ INSIGHTOUT 2(2024) 50 Marginalised citizens in the digitalisation era Elaborating on smartphone ownership becoming a basic human right in an increasingly digitalised society, 20 its lack is also exacerbating the social disparities brought about by the emergence of urban technologies. While smartphone usage is changing citizens’ daily practices, smartphones had already become the main ICT device for users to interact with transportation systems even before the inevitable impact of the pandemic. 21 Besides the multimodal travel behaviour which is the key concept of MaaS, enabled by SBMS, 9, 22 access to real-time information, ticket-purchasing functions and route-planning are almost exclusively offered by mobile apps, 9, 23 let alone some new mobility forms, especially shared mobility services, which are only available and accessible via SBMS. 22 At this point, it becomes necessary to question if a smartphone non-user – whether due to the unaffordability of smartphone ownership, a lack of the skills needed to use a smartphone, or even the rising ethical concerns of digital services – would be excluded from the mainstream digitalised transit and thus if dependence on smartphones creates another form of social exclusion. 10, 24 Several scholars have already conducted studies regarding the exclusion of smart city transition and conceptualised the most impacted groups under a new term –“digital underclass”. 25 Older adults are often vulnerable in terms of access to technologies; 20 a lower education level is another factor denying some the skills needed to use these technologies; 22, 26 low-income individuals are at a higher risk of being excluded from mobile apps; 27 disabled individuals face limitations with certain digital interfaces. 28 Even among smartphone users, a disparity is observed between smartphone ownership and the acceptance of urban technologies, implying privacy concerns. 29 Gender as a demographic factor has also been extensively studied, with findings often diverging. While some have argued that women are more vulnerable in the digitalisation era due to their higher privacy concerns and lower ICT knowledge, 30 this observation has not consistently been supported in other studies. 28 Given this debate, this paper centres on gender within the context of smart mobility studies. 20 M. D’cruz and D. Banerjee,“‘An Invisible Human Rights Crisis’: The Marginalization of Older Adults During the COVID-19 Pandemic – an Advocacy Review”, Psychiatry Research , 292(2020), 113369 . 21 N. Thomopoulos, M. Givoni and P. Rietveld,“Introduction: Transport and ICT”, in id.(eds.), ICT for Transport (Cheltenham, 2015), 1–22. 22 S. Groth,“Multimodal Divide: Reproduction of Transport Poverty in Smart Mobility Trends”, Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, 125(2019), 56–71. 23 C. Pronello and C. Camusso,“User Requirements for the Design of Efficient Mobile Devices to Navigate Through Public Transport Networks”, in N. Thomopoulos, M. Givoni and P. Rietveld(eds.), ICT for Transport (Cheltenham, 2015), 55–93 . 24 A. Sacker et al.,“Health and Social Exclusion in Older Age: Evidence from Understanding Society, the UK Household Longitudinal Study”, Journal of epidemiology and community health , 71/7(2017), 681–690. 25 E. J. Helsper and B. C. Reisdorf,“The Emergence of a‘Digital Underclass’ in Great Britain and Sweden: Changing Reasons for Digital Exclusion”, New Media& Society, 19/8(2017), 1253–1270. 26 E. Hargittai, A. M. Piper and M. R. Morris,“From Internet Access to Internet Skills: Digital Inequality Among Older Adults”, Universal Access in the Information Society, 18/4(2019), 881–890. 27 R. L. Mackett and R. Thoreau,“Transport, Social Exclusion and Health”, Journal of Transport& Health, 2/4(2015), 610–617. 28 J. Goodman-Deane et al.,“Toward Inclusive Digital Mobility Services: A Population Perspective”, Interacting with Computers, 33/4 (2021), 426–441. 29 C. M. T. Lai and A. Cole,“International Perception and Local Pride in Smart City Development: The Case of Hong Kong”, TRaNS: Trans-Regional and-National Studies of Southeast Asia ,(2024), 1–20. 30 M. Zhang, P. Zhao and S. Qiao,“Smartness-Induced Transport Inequality: Privacy Concern, Lacking Knowledge of Smartphone Use and Unequal Access to Transport Information”, Transport Policy, 99(2020), 175–185.

DOI 10.60531/INSIGHTOUT.2024.2.8| LAI: SMART CITY TRANSITION_ INSIGHTOUT 2(2024) 51 Mixed method approach The findings presented in this paper are from a territory-wide survey about smart mobility development in Hong Kong, complemented by the results of expert and in-depth interviews. The survey was conducted in Hong Kong from July to August 2023 both face-to-face and online as a mixed survey mode. The target population was Cantonese- or English-speaking citizens aged eighteen or above. The number of successful cases was 161, with an effective response rate of 89.9 per cent, and a margin of error of+/-7.57 per cent at a 95 per cent confidence level. The survey consisted of twenty-two questions divided into eight themes, ranging from travel habits and digital service usage to the concept of considering using SBMS. LimeSurvey was used to collect the survey data, and SPSS was used to conduct the analysis including descriptive and inferential statistics. The gender-age distribution of the Hong Kong population came from the 2021 population census in Hong Kong, which was used to weight the data. 31 The expert interviews engaged ten interviewees from the public, private and civic sector. Each semi-structured interview lasted around thirty to forty-five minutes. While there was no specific limit on the number of questions, especially for the personalised questions which were tailored to each interviewee regarding their expertise, two categories of questions about smart city development and smart mobility components were always asked for comparison purposes. All interviews were transcribed into English and subjected to code analysis using MAXQDA. Eight interviewees grouped based on their usage of SBMS were recruited for in-depth interviews about their travel habits, following a semi-structured format lasting approximately fifteen minutes each. Fig. 1: Total usage of smartphone-based mobility services in the past twelve months angle of analysis. While the author acknowledges the inclusion of genders other than male and female as selectable options, no participants selected genders other than male and female, and thus the gender-related analysis here only pertains to male and female. Analysis a. Usage of SBMS This paper divides SBMS into five main types for Q4: route-planning, estimated time of arrival(ETA), parking, shared mobility and ride-hailing. Figure 1 shows that route-planning and ETA are the two most frequently used types of services among participants. Nevertheless, the results in table 2 show that only route-planning services have a significant relationship between usage and gender. Figure 2 indicates that males on average use more route-planning services than females. Focusing on the aim of this paper, three angles of analysis are proposed: usage, access, and attitude. Table 1 shows the questions selected from the survey for each Fig. 2: Usage of route-planning apps by gender 31 https://www.census2021.gov.hk/en/index.html(accessed 12 Apr. 2024).

DOI 10.60531/INSIGHTOUT.2024.2.8| LAI: SMART CITY TRANSITION_ INSIGHTOUT 2(2024) 52 No. Q4 Q4.3 Q5.3 Q6 Q6.1 Q7 Q15 Question Measure Analysis Have you used any of the following smartphone-based mobility ser- Nominal Usage vices in the past twelve months? [route-planning; estimated time of arrival(ETA); parking; shared mobility; ride-hailing] Have you ever faced any problems when using mobile apps for smart- Nominal Access phone-based mobility services? [app crashes or technical glitches; payment or billing problems; excessive battery or data usage; difficulties in using app features; inaccurate tracking of services(incorrect ETA); limited availability or services; poor customer service] For your most frequent journey, how much time do you need on ave- Scale Usage rage to reach your destination? How much do you agree with the following statements(concept of smartphone)? Q6b Smartphone is an essential device in my daily life. Scale Attitude Q6e My life would be much better without smartphone. Attitude Q6f I cannot access any mobility services without smartphone. Access How much do you agree with the following statements(smartphones in travel behaviour)? Q6.1d I am always cautious if the smartphone-based mobility Scale Attitude service is using my real-time location data. Q6.1f Smartphone-based mobility services have helped me to Usage reduce my travel time. Q6.1g I believe smartphone-based mobility services can help Usage reduce traffic congestion. Q6.1j I believe smartphone-based mobility services can assist Attitude citizens who have difficulty using traditional transportation modes to travel around the city. Q6.1l Smartphone-based mobility services are environmentally Attitude friendly. How important are the following factors when you are considering Scale Usage using specific transportation modes? [time; cost; safety; accessible information; purchase methods] What is your average monthly disposable income for travel expenses Scale Access approximately? Table 1: Questions for analysis

DOI 10.60531/INSIGHTOUT.2024.2.8| LAI: SMART CITY TRANSITION_ INSIGHTOUT 2(2024) 53 Question 4 route-planning ETA parking shared mobility ride-hailing Statistical method: chi-squared test Pearson chi-squared value Degree of freedom 7.564 1 0.007 1 4.740 1 0.754 1 0.524 1 Significance value 0.006* 0.932 0.029# 0.385 0.469 Question 5.3 6.1f 6.1g 7 time cost safety accessible information purchase methods Statistical method: independent sample t-test t-value Degree of freedom 2.173 114.159 3.842 131 2.396 113 0.900 131 -1.288 136 1.476 136 2.115 129 0.557 127 Two-sided probability 0.032* <0.001* 0.018* 0.370 0.200 0.142 0.036* 0.578 *indicating significant difference(smaller than 0.05) #unreliable due to a high percentage of the cells having expected counts of less than 5 Table 2: Results of the statistical analysis regarding the effect of gender on the usage of SBMS Fig. 3: Average time to reach the destination of high-frequency journeys by gender Fig. 5: Two statements with significant gendered differences related to usage

DOI 10.60531/INSIGHTOUT.2024.2.8| LAI: SMART CITY TRANSITION_ INSIGHTOUT 2(2024) 54 A significant gendered difference can also be observed in table 2(Q5.3) for the average time required to reach the destination of the participants’ most frequent journey. Figure 3 shows males take more time to reach their usual destinations than females. This argument is substantiated by the result of the in-depth interviews. By analysing the ratio of travel distance and average time taken with regard to males and females, figure 4 reveals that males generally have a lower average of kilometres per hour than females, confirming that males spend more time to reach their destinations than females. than males regarding the reduction of travel time and traffic congestion by using SBMS because the usage for females is rather unnecessary for their most frequent journeys. Five consideration factors were examined, and table 2(Q7) identified accessible information as the only factor showing a significant gendered difference in the consideration of using transportation modes. Figure 6 demonstrates that females tend to pay less consideration to accessible information when deciding to use certain transportation modes than males. Since one benefit of using SBMS is to easily access traffic information concerning schedules and connections, 23 the lower priority of accessible information may contribute to the reason females use fewer route-planning services. Fig. 4: Ratio of travel distance to average time taken by gender Looking at the two statements questioning if SBMS can help reduce travel time and even traffic congestion, significant gendered differences are also revealed in table 2(Q6.1f, Q6.1g). Figure 5 suggests that females tend to be unsure whether the travel time and chance of traffic congestion could be reduced by SBMS. Interpreting this analysis together with the previous results, the higher average of kilometres per hour implies that females exhibit a tendency to travel to familiar destinations, which perhaps are also closer to their residential areas. This tendency possibly explains their lower use of route-planning services compared to males. Although a familiar travel environment does not contribute to less traffic congestion, travellers might know more about any alternative solutions even without assistance from SBMS. Therefore, females might be more doubtful Fig. 6: Accessible information as the main consideration factor by gender b. Access to SBMS This paper suggests seven problems of SBMS as the common issues faced by users. Referring to figure 7, app crashes, excessive battery or data usage, and incorrect ETA are the problems most identified by survey participants. However, table 3(Q4.3) reveals none of them has observed gendered differences. Significant gender differences can only be observed for the problems of limited availability of services and poor customer service(see figs. 8 and 9), which are logically the problems encountered when utilising shared mobility services enabled by SBMS.

DOI 10.60531/INSIGHTOUT.2024.2.8| LAI: SMART CITY TRANSITION_ INSIGHTOUT 2(2024) 55 Question 4.3 app crashes or technical glitches payment or billing problems excessive battery or data usage difficulties in using app features inaccurate tracking of services limited availability or services poor customer service Statistical method: chi-squared test Pearson chi-squared value Degree of freedom 0.180 1 1.576 1 0.860 1 0.822 1 0.025 1 5.535 1 4.410 1 Significance value 0.672 0.209 0.354 0.365 0.873 0.019* 0.036* Question 6f 15 Statistical method: independent sample t-test t-value Degree of freedom -1.373 134 3.889 120.742 Two-sided probability 0.172 <0.001* *indicating significant difference(smaller than 0.05) Table 3: Results of the statistical analysis regarding the effect of gender on access to SBMS Males tend to face more of these two problems than females, implying more usage of shared mobility services by males than females. 32 Fig. 7: Problems faced when using mobile apps for smartphone-based mobility services When participants were asked to evaluate whether mobility services are still accessible without a smartphone, the result in table 3(Q6f) shows there is no significant difference between genders. The mean values of males(M=2.92, SD=1.159) and females (M=3.17, SD=1.006) also show no observable tendency towards the statement. However, gendered differ32 K. Turo ń ,“Car-Sharing Systems in Smart Cities: A Review of the Most Important Issues Related to the Functioning of the Systems in Light of the Scientific Research”, Smart Cities , 6/2(2023), 796–808.

DOI 10.60531/INSIGHTOUT.2024.2.8| LAI: SMART CITY TRANSITION_ INSIGHTOUT 2(2024) 56 Fig. 8: Limited availability of services as a problem by gender Fig. 10: Average monthly disposable income for travel expenses by gender Fig. 9: Poor customer service as a problem by gender Fig. 11: The most frequent codes related to the word“cost” from the expert interviews ences can be identified in the average monthly disposable income. Table 3(Q15) indicates that females have much less monthly budget available for travel expenses than males(see fig. 10). Since most SBMS, especially shared mobility services, require monthly subscriptions, not to mention that the new mobility forms enabled by SBMS generally cost more than those independent of SBMS, 10 the lower disposable income of females may contribute to the reason why females tend to use less SBMS, especially those that require monthly payments. In fact, cost as a concerning factor was also revealed by the interviewees of both expert and in-depth interviews. Although it has no significant gendered difference as indicated in table 2(Q7), participant eight(female) from the in-depth interviews explicitly mentioned“I prefer walking[than using public transport] even if it is at midnight, as it is cheaper […]. Although I am quite scared when walking alone, especially through the tunnel at night”, proving that some individuals might opt to sacrifice their safety in order to avoid paying the extra cost for public transport. Using“cost” as a keyword in MAXQDA to perform code relation analysis on the expert interviews, figure 11 indicates the most frequent related codes concern the disadvantages of smart mobility in Hong Kong and digital service providers. According to several participants, the cost of shared mobility services is higher than public transport(participant seven, private sector), which is difficult for underprivileged citizens to access(participant eight, civic sector). The same participant postulated that the high operation costs in Hong Kong were being passed on to customers, resulting in the high service costs.

DOI 10.60531/INSIGHTOUT.2024.2.8| LAI: SMART CITY TRANSITION_ INSIGHTOUT 2(2024) 57 Question 6b 6e 6.1d 6.1j 6.1l Statistical method: independent sample t-test t-value Degree of freedom Two-sided probability 1.913 111.690 0.058 2.992 133 0.003* 2.257 125 0.026* 3.990 125<0.001* 2.147 118 0.034* *indicating significant difference(smaller than 0.05) Table 4: Results of the statistical analysis regarding the effect of gender on attitudes towards SBMS c. Attitude towards SBMS Five statements concerning participants’ perceptions towards smartphones and SBMS were analysed to reveal whether there are gendered differences among attitudes. Except for the statement about smartphones being an essential device in daily life, table 4 shows the other four statements have significant differences, and females tend to disagree with four statements compared to males(see fig. 12). To interpret the results, it seems that females tend to be unsure if SBMS can assist citizens who have difficulty using traditional transportation modes and doubt if SBMS helps preserve the environment. As previously mentioned, this could probably be Fig. 12: Four statements with significant gendered differences related to attitude explained by females having less experience with SBMS, meaning that they do not see the necessity and benefits of using SBMS. Additionally, while males appear to utilise more route-planning services, they exhibit greater caution regarding third parties using their real-time location data and even tend to be sceptical about the benefits of smartphones in their lives compared to females. The gendered differences reveal the negative attitudes of both genders, only in different aspects. Indeed, the overall sceptical attitudes towards smart mobility align with the analysis of expert interviews. Figure 13 shows the code frequency in relation to interviewees, with larger squares indicating more quotations related to the corresponding code. A tendency can be observed that interviewees from the private and civic sectors emphasised the drawbacks of smart mobility. In contrast, interviewees from the public sector predominantly focused on the positive aspects of smart mobility, as if presenting a propagandistic narrative to advertise the“smart city”. 33 Both results suggest a discrepancy in attitudes towards smart mobility between the HKGOV and citizens in Hong Kong. 33 A. Cole et al.,“The‘Smart City’ between Urban Narrative and Empty Signifier: The Case of Hong Kong”, in A. Cole, A. Healy and C. Morel Journel(eds.), Constructing Narratives for City Governance (Cheltenham, 2022), 101–123.

DOI 10.60531/INSIGHTOUT.2024.2.8| LAI: SMART CITY TRANSITION_ INSIGHTOUT 2(2024) 58 Fig. 13: Code frequency in relation to interviewees Conclusion This paper reveals various gendered differences in behaviours, experiences and attitudes related to SBMS in Hong Kong. Notably, females tend to utilise route-planning services less frequently than males, possibly due to their tendency to travel to familiar destinations. Moreover, females show more uncertainty regarding the potential benefits of SBMS in terms of reducing travel time and traffic congestion, disagreeing with the suggestion from IMD. 19 While route-planning apps are always deemed a single platform enabling MaaS and providing traffic information, 9 females prioritise accessible information less than males as a significant consideration when choosing transportation modes. These findings suggest females perceive less need for such apps. Regarding the accessibility of SBMS, the study reveals that males encounter more problems related to the limited availability of services and poor customer service, potentially due to their higher usage of shared mobility services. By contrast, females have lower disposable income for travel expenses, which may hinder their adoption of SBMS, especially those requiring monthly subscriptions. Despite the low usage cost of public transport in Hong Kong, 15 it seems that some individuals still find the services unaffordable and opt to save expenses by compromising on time or safety. This paper also uncovers significant gendered differences in attitudes towards smart mobility. While females express more scepticism regarding the assistance provided by SBMS to individuals with transportation difficulties and the environmental benefits, males exhibit greater caution regarding privacy concerns and the overall impact of smartphones on their lives, which contradicts the argument that females have higher privacy concerns. 30 Overall, these findings highlight the need for policymakers and service providers to consider gendered differences when designing and implementing SBMS. Addressing accessibility barriers and tailoring services to meet gender-specific needs are crucial to enhance the inclusivity of smart mobility. Furthermore, fostering a more balanced narrative acknowledging both the benefits and concerns of smart mobility is essential for shifting attitudes and earning trust from citizens, especially considering the reported low levels of public trust in the HKGOV. 29 Apart from the mobility-related findings, the selection of only male or female gender options suggests that gender diversity in Hong Kong may not be fully recognised, or that it may still be suppressed due to external factors, which is equally concerning.