Tracing a path to knowledge? Indicative user impacts of introducing a public transport map in Dhaka, Bangladesh

The smartphone exemplifies the rhetorical smart city movement. This paper examines one potential use of smartphone technology -mapping public transportation services in a megacity of the Global South. We examine the potential user impacts of introducing a smartphone-generated and analog-delivered schematic bus map in Dhaka, Bangladesh. After distributing the map, we used a web-based survey to investigate impacts on users' knowledge, as measured by their stated understanding, navigation, and perceptions of the system. While a small and biased sample, the results suggest that the map fills a knowledge gap, provides useful and valued information, and may stimulate "exploration" of the city and its bus system.