Perceptions of a multi-stakeholder approach to public transport creation; a four stage Delphi of social value creation

There is an increasing focus on the use of connected and integrated transport networks to support delivery of ‘smart city’ strategies that foster societal change. Prior research identified an increased need to explore the role of procurement and governance in delivering social impact through ‘smart city’ solutions, developing integrated transport options for urban and rural (rur-ban) areas through horizontal governance arrangements facilitating collaboration across private/public/third sector stakeholders. However, there remains a scarceness of research exploring how such governance structures within these ‘smart city’ ecosystem should be formed and operated. This research seeks to fill this gap by utilising the concept of social enterprise and entrepreneur as agent of change for by building collaborative multi-stakeholder social capital networks, leading to the creation of governance systems that facilitate partnership formation. In doing so, it builds on prior research, exploring collaboration in public/third sector partnerships and the role that social enterprise plays in leading multi- stakeholder collaborations that minimise the cultural differences inherent in public/private/third sector partnerships. The research in this paper is based upon a four stage Delphi study with key stakeholders (Local authority, transport provider and user), designed in order to explore the degree of fit between current business models and needs of varying multi-disciplinary stakeholders in formulating a theoretical representation of how the social enterprise business model can demonstrate value through creation of measured social impact integrated transport networks.