Earticle

Rapid urban digitalization has intensified the demand for integrated governance systems in developing cities, where fragmented bureaucratic structures and limited interoperability often constrain the effectiveness of smart city initiatives. This study examines how seven interoperability attributes–design process, government process alignment, compatibility with policies and regulations, user interaction, change management, service consumption, and governance contribution–shape smart city governance effectiveness, using Yogyakarta, Indonesia, as a critical case. A mixed-method approach was employed, combining a survey of 300 local government officials analyzed through Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) with semi-structured interviews conducted to contextualize and validate the quantitative findings. The results indicate that design process exerts the strongest positive influence on smart city governance (β = 0.740, p < 0.001), followed by service consumption (β = 0.180, p < 0.001), and user interaction (β = 0.120, p < 0.05). Government process alignment shows a statistically significant but negative effect (β = −0.110, p < 0.05), while compatibility with policies and regulations exhibits a weak yet positive influence. In contrast, change management and governance contributions do not demonstrate statistically significant direct effects. These findings underscore that interoperability functions as a multidimensional governance capability rather than a purely technical requirement, emphasizing the centrality of process-centric integration and active service utilization in advancing smart city governance. This study contributes a replicable analytical framework and highlights the need for future research to incorporate longitudinal designs and emerging governance dimensions, such as cybersecurity and ethical data governance.