Smart community governance experience and resident wellbeing: The mediating role of community participation and moderating effect of reality-expectation gap

The integration of smart technologies into community governance has fundamentally transformed localized urban management paradigms, yet theoretical understanding of how these transformations influence resident wellbeing remains fragmented. This study advances smart governance theory by proposing an integrated theoretical framework that synthesizes good governance theory, community participation theory, and expectation-disconfirmation theory to examine the complex mechanisms linking governance experience to wellbeing outcomes. Through analysis of survey data from 2712 residents across 20 Chinese provinces, we empirically investigate how smart community governance experience influences resident wellbeing perception through the mediating mechanism of community participation, while accounting for the moderating effect of reality-expectation gaps. Our findings reveal that governance experience significantly impacts wellbeing both directly (β = 0.608, p < 0.001) and indirectly through community participation (mediating effect: 52.96 %). Furthermore, we identify a significant moderation effect of reality-expectation gaps (β = 0.312, p < 0.001), demonstrating how expectation alignment influences governance effectiveness. These findings advance socio-technical governance theory by demonstrating how technological infrastructure, participatory engagement, and psychological dynamics jointly shape community wellbeing. Practically, the study advocates for expectation-calibration strategies and participatory co-design in smart community policies. This research provides a holistic framework for optimizing smart community governance effectiveness within digital urban ecosystems, offering scalable insights for broader urban governance transformation.