Smart governance varies considerably across cities, allegedly due to the influence of the institutional setting. Nevertheless, the institutional factors influencing smart governance have yet to be systematically examined. This research proposes to remedy this by exploring the role of the institutional context in shaping the configuration of smart governance. For this purpose, this study, drawing on insights from institutional theory, zooms in on three cities with dissimilar institutional contexts — Curitiba (Brazil), Glasgow (UK), and Utrecht (the Netherlands). The findings suggest that institutional context does indeed affect how smart governance actualizes in cities. These empirical insights result in a heuristic framework for understanding smart governance in diverse urban environments. The framework exhibits a multi-layered influencing mechanism: institutions co-existing on multiple spatial scales interact and modify – reinforce or dissolve – each other's impact on smart governance. This study opens the door to a different approach to understanding smart governance and sheds new light on how this is interrelated with the institutional context.

据称，由于制度环境的影响，各个城市的智能治理差异很大。然而，影响智能治理的制度因素尚待系统地研究。本研究建议通过探索制度环境在塑造智能治理配置中的作用来对此进行补救。为此，本研究利用制度理论的见解，着重研究了三个具有不同制度背景的城市-库里蒂巴（巴西），格拉斯哥（英国）和乌得勒支（荷兰）。研究结果表明，制度背景确实影响了智能治理在城市中的实现方式。这些经验性的见识形成了一种启发式框架，用于理解各种城市环境中的智能治理。该框架展示了一个多层的影响机制：在多个空间尺度上并存的机构可以相互交互和修改（加强或分解）彼此之间对智能治理的影响。这项研究为了解智能治理的另一种方法打开了大门，并为这种方法与制度背景之间的相互联系提供了新的思路。