The tales of the three digital cities of Amsterdam: The application of ICT for social and political participation

During the last decade, many European digital cities applied ICT to improve the local public sphere, reinforce local democracy, support local communities and increase social participation. Different policies of a variety of stakeholders led to a wide variation of designs and functionality, content, main actors, aims and philosophy, organization, and use and users. To build a useful and sustainable online environment (digital city) proved to be difficult. Political changes, economic cycles or changing priorities of funders threatened the existence of digital cities. This article gives an historical overview of the development process of digital cities during the last fifteen years in Amsterdam to get a better understanding of this variation. It tells the stories of three Amsterdam digital cities, identifies the main actors, tries to explain the observed variations and discusses the role of these digital cities for social and political participation.