Agent-based simulation of citizens’ satisfaction in smart cities

Although the citizens’ satisfaction in smart cities (CSSC) has become a vital criterion for smart cities, which symbolizes the people-centric concept, the previous research on simulating CSSC only considered the technological innovation and policy changes at the macro level, resulting in the neglect of the micro emotional contagion between citizens. To address this gap, a simulation approach is proposed to consider the influence caused by emotional contagion through the agent-based model (ABM). Supported by the expectation confirmation model (ECM) and the emotional contagion theory (ECT), the ABM simulation is implemented through the Anylogic platform, based on survey data from 19 smart cities in China. The results of various scenarios show that citizens’ expectations are the key factor affecting the CSSC, and the influence of emotional contagion cannot be ignored, especially in the acquaintance society. As social networks become more intimate, the impact of emotional contagion will turn the citizen group into an “antithetical society,” which means a situation with severe polarization of CSSC. This study also discusses the possible threshold of this transition process. Based on the analysis of multiple scenarios, it is implied that CSSC should be evaluated by considering the emotional contagion, and smart cities prioritize quality over quantity.