SMART CITIES IN JAPAN AND THEIR APPLICATION IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES 115enterprises results in social wealth enhancement so that both society and
the entrepreneur benefi t (NYU Stern 2005 ). Social entrepreneurs typically
employ practical, innovative, and sustainable approaches to benefi t society
overall with an emphasis on those who are marginalized and poor (Schwab
Foundation 2005 ). Generally speaking, most current defi nitions suggest
that opportunities for social change and benefi ts are explored through
social entrepreneurship (Zahra et al. 2009 ).
Social entrepreneurs are in a good position to provide social benefi ts
by creating business models for microgrids in slums. One successful social
entrepreneurial project is the Grameen Shakti project, which created
solar-powered facilities in Bangladesh with soft loans through instalment.
With affordable prices set, the number of installed Grameen Shakti’s
Solar Home Systems has risen from roughly 230 in 1997 to more than
520,000 in 2010 (Asif and Barua 2011 ). Its innovative business model
and operational framework can be viewed as a benchmark to be applied in
other countries.
Whereas foreign aid largely focuses on rural electrifi cation, greater
emphasis should be placed on slum electrifi cation. Urban air quality lev-
els can be improved signifi cantly once microgrids are made available in
slums. There is growing recognition of a strong linkage between global
climate change (GCC) and local air pollution (LAP) levels. GCC mitiga-
tion efforts may have strong co-benefi ts in terms of lower LAP values and
vice versa. Policies that neglect these co-benefi ts may prove suboptimal,
as the co-benefi t approach involves coping with global and local emissions
control factors in which the strategic design of policies is indispensable. In
addition, more international focus is being placed on integrating measures
to optimize policy effects. Thus, slum air quality mitigation efforts must
also be placed within the context of urban co-benefi t policy formulation
(Suwa et al. 2012 ). In addition, microgrids will enhance electricity acces-
sibility and availability, which would ultimately help meet the MDG to
ensure environmental sustainability in slums.
Our analysis has demonstrated that mere top-down and technologically
focused approaches are limited in terms of making individuals willing to
pay (WTP) for electricity. Social factors, such as local norms, trust levels,
and occasionally sanctions, seem to work better for ensuring compliance
(Winther 2012 ). Nevertheless, technological solutions informed by social
contexts might create environments in which cleaner energy sources
may be accessed by slum dwellers. Microgrids funded by social investors
present numerous slum/urban environmental benefi ts (e.g., air quality