Artificial Intelligence (AI) is rapidly transforming urban governance by reshaping the delivery of public services, administrative decision-making, and the interactions between citizens and the government. While AI holds the potential to enhance administrative efficiency and policy effectiveness, the growing role of AI in public governance is raising fundamental questions regarding democratic legitimacy, accountability, transparency, and citizen trust. Traditional public services were characterized by administrative agencies unilaterally providing services to citizens. However, in AI-based administration, algorithms support policy decisions, citizens function as data producers and policy participants, and public services are shifting toward real-time, predictive, and personalized services. In an era characterized by democratic uncertainty and accelerating technological change, understanding the impact of AI on democratic governance has become an urgent task for both scholars and policymakers.
This study examines the relationship between artificial intelligence, urban governance, and democratic trust by proposing an analytical framework that integrates AI governance with democratic governance theory. Drawing on the concepts of public value, institutional trust, and algorithmic governance, the paper argues that democratic trust is shaped not merely by technological performance but by citizens' perceptions of transparency, accountability, participation, fairness, and institutional responsiveness. Accordingly, AI should be understood not simply as a technological innovation but as a governance mechanism that redefines the relationship between governments and citizens.
Methodologically, the study adopts a comparative qualitative approach based on international cases of AI-enabled urban governance. Through cross-case analysis, it identifies the institutional and governance conditions under which AI contributes to democratic trust while mitigating concerns over algorithmic bias, opacity, and exclusion.
The study contributes to the literature by connecting AI governance with democratic governance and urban public administration. It further proposes a conceptual framework for democratic AI governance that supports trustworthy, transparent, and citizen-centered urban governance in an increasingly uncertain global environment.
