Smart city governance in a medium-sized European city: Strategic dichotomies and stakeholder networks in Debrecen (Hungary)

<ns5:p>Background Smart city research still relies heavily on evidence from capitals and flagship cities, leaving medium-sized cities under-examined. This article analyses the smart city governance of Debrecen, Hungary, a medium-sized city, to address this gap. The study examines four strategic dichotomies: technology-driven versus holistic orientation, top-down versus bottom-up governance, double-helix versus quadruple-helix collaboration, and mono-dimensional versus integrated development. Methods A validated dataset of 120 smart city initiatives and a collaboration network of 161 organizations in Debrecen was analysed. Each initiative was systematically coded by type, domain, governance mode, and stakeholder composition. Network analysis was employed to identify central actors and collaboration patterns within the smart city ecosystem. Results Debrecen’s smart city portfolio is predominantly technology-driven and strongly municipally orchestrated, with the city government participating in most initiatives and occupying the central position in the collaboration network. Partnerships are dominated by government and industry actors (double-helix model), while universities and civil society organizations play more limited roles. However, the portfolio demonstrates broad domain coverage, spanning all six smart city domains with particularly strong activity in environment, mobility, and living. The city therefore combines multi-domain integration with limited participatory depth. Conclusions The case demonstrates how medium-sized cities can assemble ambitious and multi-domain smart city portfolios under constrained conditions, but also reveals how strong municipal coordination may reinforce public-private delivery models and narrow collaborative inclusion. The findings further reveal that while municipal coordination enables comprehensive infrastructure deployment, the limited participatory depth and underrepresentation of civil society risk perpetuating rather than overcoming the digital divide in medium-sized urban contexts. This article contributes a replicable project-level diagnostic framework for examining smart city governance beyond capital-city contexts and offers policy implications for strengthening citizen participation, building quadruple-helix capacity, and enhancing cross-domain integration in medium-sized smart cities.</ns5:p>