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Understanding and defining smart cities
Throughout history, cities have served as hubs of innovation, yet the digital age has introduced fresh opportunities and hurdles for urban progress. Consequently, cities are undergoing a transition into "smart cities" to foster the creation of urban environments that are more efficient, sustainable, and livable. Importantly, this transformation extends beyond the urban domain and holds considerable social, cultural, and economic significance. It requires a fundamental overhaul of both internal and external city management and operations, prompting a rethinking of urban governance, citizen involvement, and the delivery of public services.

The smart city approach underscores the importance of collaboration among diverse stakeholders, including government, businesses, and citizens, to co-create innovative solutions and address intricate urban challenges. By embracing this concept, cities aim to not only upgrade their infrastructure and service provision but also to nurture social inclusion, technological adoption, and economic advancement. Leveraging digital technologies facilitates the enhancement of residents' quality of life, the promotion of sustainability, and the stimulation of economic growth by fostering the emergence of new industries and job opportunities.

The transition to a smart city entails internal changes in urban planning, management, and operation, with digital implementation serving as a driving force and objective. Specifically within smart city trajectories, there is a heightened emphasis on utilizing data to inform decision-making processes. For instance, smart city technologies enable the monitoring of traffic flow, energy consumption, air quality, and various other parameters. Subsequently, this data can be analyzed to pinpoint areas for enhancement and optimize urban services. Moreover, smart city technologies facilitate improved communication and collaboration among different departments and stakeholders.

Challenges of defining smart cities
In recent years, the term "smart city" has gained widespread popularity, prompting cities worldwide to invest in digital technologies and data to enhance their urban landscapes. However, despite its common usage, there remains a lack of consensus on what precisely constitutes a smart city. This presents a paradox, as measuring the impact and outcomes of a concept without a clear definition proves challenging. The absence of a universally accepted definition of a smart city poses a significant challenge for policymakers, planners, and researchers. Without a clear understanding of its parameters, evaluating the effectiveness and impact of smart city initiatives becomes difficult. It also hampers the ability to compare and derive insights from various smart city projects and identify best practices.

Early examples of smart city definitions include:


 * Caragliu et al. (2011): “A city is smart when investments in human and social capital and traditional (transport) and modern (ICT) communication infrastructure fuel sustainable economic growth and a high quality of life, with a wise management of natural resources, through participatory governance.”
 * Bakici, Almirall, & Wareham (2013): “Smart city as a high-tech intensive and advanced city that connects people, information, and city elements using new technologies in order to create a sustainable, greener city, competitive and innovative commerce, and an increased life quality.”
 * Nam and Pardo (2011): “A smart city infuses information into its physical infrastructure to improve conveniences, facilitate mobility, add efficiencies, conserve energy, improve the quality of air and water, identify problems and fix them quickly, recover rapidly from disasters, collect data to make better decisions, deploy resources effectively, and share data to enable collaboration across entities and domains.”

These definitions underscore the significance of employing technology and data to enhance urban services and foster sustainable, liveable environments. They also stress the importance of citizen involvement and cross-sector collaboration. However, alongside these shared principles, there are notable disparities among the suggested definitions. For instance, while some definitions concentrate more on the economic advantages of smart city endeavours, others prioritize environmental or social benefits. Additionally, certain definitions give precedence to specific technologies or sectors over others.

The process of defining and conceptualizing smart city development is ongoing, resulting in a division within smart city research. Researchers are actively seeking interpretations that can unify and overcome the fragmentation created by the initial two decades of knowledge production in this field. The main issues surrounding early smart city debate the research include the following:

● The absence of intellectual exchange among researchers in the smart city development domain, which is crucial for advancing ICT-driven urban sustainability initiatives.

● The inclination of smart city researchers to pursue subjective avenues of research in isolation from their peers.

● The resulting division within the scientific community due to this fragmented approach to knowledge production.

● The challenge faced by the community in establishing a shared understanding or common ground amidst the diverse knowledge generated by smart city research.

''[definition from Mora and Deakin]. Smart cities are characterized by the implementation of ICT solutions to address urban sustainability objectives. Enabling cities to embrace this ICT-driven approach to sustainable urban development has become a central focus for academia, industry, governments, and civil society organizations. They collectively recognize the crucial role of ICTs in enhancing the sustainability of urban environments''.

Filippo Marchesani

"The concept of a smart city aims to create urban spaces that are more efficient, sustainable, and livable by fostering collaboration among stakeholders such as government, businesses, and citizens." "By leveraging data for decision-making, smart city technologies enable cities to optimize urban services and streamline internal operations."

Oke

“Smart city as it were does not have a universally accepted definition. However, it has been defined over the years as the transformation from an ordinary city to that which is sustainable. Smart city encompasses the integration of technological innovations to cater for the needs and demands of the society. It aims to bring enhancement in every sector of the city’s practices as it works in the phase of developing strategies that can better the quality of life and at the same time improve the environment.”

Gassman

Gassman, Bolm and Palmie define smart cities as:

A smart city systematically applies digital technologies to reduce resource input, improve its people’s quality of life, and increase the competitiveness of the regional economy in a sustainable manner. It entails the use of intelligent solutions for infrastructure, energy, housing, mobility, services, and security, based on integrated sensor technology, connectivity, data analytics, and independently functional value-added processes.

Growing cities
By 2040, cities will accommodate 65% of the world's population. Every other second, two individuals relocate to urban areas across the globe. By 2050, urban centers will host 70% of the global population. These societies will consume 80% of the overall energy, generate 75% of total CO2 emissions, and utilize 75% of available resources. As these cities grow, more lives will need to be supported for, more energy will need to be supplied, more waste will need to be accounted for.

Many cities in their current state possess inefficiencies which will only worsen with their growth:


 * In Germany, the daily consumption of coffee-to-go paper cups amounts to 320,000, resulting in an annual waste production of 40,000 tons.
 * Basel, a city in Switzerland, boasts 31,000 public parking spaces alongside an additional 69,000 spaces on private property. However, despite this abundance, the city's residents have only registered 57,000 automobiles, indicating inefficiency.
 * On average, drivers in Frankfurt spend 65 hours annually searching for parking spaces, incurring costs totaling 1,419 euros.

Pollution and Air Quality
While the most alarming instances of smog are often associated with China, its presence also raises significant concerns for European cities, where its gravity is often underestimated (McKenna, 2017). In 2013, London witnessed the continuous surpassing of threshold values for most air pollutants in every district. Stuttgart has frequently experienced extreme concentrations of air pollution, necessitating driving restrictions. Similarly, in Graz, Austria, threshold values for fine dust pollution are consistently exceeded. In 2017, the permissible maximum of 25 days of excessive pollution per year was surpassed as early as February, with fine dust pollution remaining high for 30 of the year's initial 47 days.

Noise Pollution
As per the European Environment Agency projections, a minimum of 100 million Europeans endure street noise levels surpassing the 55 dB(A) threshold. This noise detrimentally affects the quality of life for numerous urban residents, contributing to increased stress levels and health issues.

Tragedy of the Commons
Yet another among the numerous challenges confronting contemporary cities is the concept known as the "tragedy of the commons," or more precisely, the exploitation of shared resources. This concept highlights the phenomenon wherein the pursuit of individual self-interest results in the overutilization of collectively owned assets, contrary to the common good. This sets in motion a detrimental cycle: as individuals capitalize on public resources for personal gain, these resources diminish, intensifying competition for access to them. This feedback loop ultimately leads to further overuse or complete depletion of the resource.

Many cities witness residents exhibiting such behavior. For instance, the widespread use of individual motorized transport significantly impacts the urban populace negatively through traffic congestion and environmental degradation. However, each individual driver reaps substantial benefits such as time savings, freedom, flexibility, and autonomy. Consequently, more citizens opt for personal vehicles, often prompting reductions in public transportation services, further incentivizing private vehicle usage, exacerbating congestion, and overburdening roads. Addressing the tragedy of the commons through the integration of information and communication technologies forms a central tenet of smart city initiatives.

[Gassman]

Information and Communication Technologies
Information and Communication Technologies (ICT s) have been pivotal in shaping contemporary society, revolutionizing our lifestyles, professions, and modes of communication. In recent years, their significance has surged within urban contexts, with cities worldwide embracing digital technologies to enhance governance and urban structure. This utilization of ICTs in urban settings has given rise to the smart city concept, where digital technologies and data are harnessed to cultivate more efficient, sustainable, and livable urban environments. The incorporation of ICTs and allied digital technologies into urban landscapes stands as a central tenet of the smart city ideology. Cities are deploying various ICTs, including sensors, data analytics, and mobile applications, to oversee and regulate diverse urban systems such as transportation, energy, and waste management. These technologies furnish real-time urban data, empowering cities to make well-informed decisions and refine their services.

Although ICTs hold promise for Smart Cities, their integration presents challenges. Cities encounter hurdles in adopting and implementing new technologies, including financial limitations, technical obstacles, and apprehensions regarding privacy and security. Moreover, the advantages of ICTs are not uniformly accessible across urban communities, contributing to a digital divide where certain groups are marginalized.

Benefits of smart cities
The shift towards a smart city also carries significant strategic implications. Smart cities are strategically designed to be more efficient, competitive, and appealing to businesses, investors, and visitors. By harnessing digital technologies and data, smart cities can deliver a plethora of advantages to their inhabitants, including swifter and more dependable services, environmentally sustainable and livable surroundings, and enhanced accessibility and inclusivity. These advantages can assist cities in attracting and retaining talent, businesses, and investment, thereby augmenting their economic and social progress.

However, these benefits can also be seen as challenges. The efficacy of the smart city concept hinges not solely on its technological and policy aspects but also on its appeal to a diverse array of stakeholders, including businesses, residents, tourists, students, and visitors. The smart city paradigm can enhance a city's allure through various avenues. Firstly, it can bolster a city's competitiveness and innovativeness, drawing in businesses and entrepreneurs. Smart Cities embody a culture of innovation, entrepreneurship, and adaptability, fostering an environment conducive to business success and expansion. Moreover, Smart Cities often boast modern and efficient infrastructure, facilitating cost reduction and productivity enhancement for businesses. To illustrate, attracting businesses necessitates the creation of a business-friendly milieu that fosters innovation and development. This entails crafting policies and strategies that promote entrepreneurship, such as tax incentives, funding avenues, and supportive regulatory frameworks.

Openness and transparency
Introducing ICTs into Smart Cities entails more than just technological advancement; it necessitates a fundamental restructuring of urban management and operation. Cities are embracing novel governance models that prioritize collaboration, participation, and transparency. Through the utilization of digital platforms and tools, cities can involve citizens in decision-making processes, enhance communication and collaboration among various departments and stakeholders, and bolster transparency and accountability.

The incorporation of open data is integral to the smart city paradigm. Open data denotes information accessible to the public without usage or redistribution limitations. It holds significant potential in enhancing open governance, fostering accountability, transparency, and citizen involvement.

Smart cities and data utilisation
Within smart cities, data assumes a pivotal role both strategically and managerially, facilitating city governments and other stakeholders in comprehending citizens' needs and preferences. This understanding enables the development and implementation of digital solutions tailored to meet those requirements. Through proficient utilization of data, cities can streamline their operations, enhance services, and elevate citizens' quality of life.

The proliferation of digital technologies and services generates copious amounts of data, which serve as valuable inputs for decision-making processes and the enhancement of urban environments' efficiency and effectiveness. This sets in motion a virtuous cycle wherein data and digital technologies synergize, perpetuating a continual exchange of information and services that benefit both cities and citizens.

The significance of digital integration in smart cities cannot be overstated. These technologies are reshaping urban organization and interactions with citizens and other stakeholders. Through embracing digital transformation, cities can optimize their operations, curtail expenses, and enhance service delivery to citizens. Additionally, digital implementation enables cities to optimize resource allocation, minimize waste, and bolster sustainability. For instance, the deployment of sensors and other IoT devices aids cities in monitoring and managing energy consumption, alleviating traffic congestion, and enhancing air quality.

Implementing the data value chain
The data value chain is a conceptual framework outlining the progression by which raw data undergo transformation into valuable information and knowledge. It delineates the stages of data evolution, commencing with collection, followed by analysis, dissemination, and culminating in its influence on decision-making processes.

Within the realm of smart cities, the data value chain holds significant importance in refining urban administration, augmenting service provision, and elevating citizens' overall quality of life. Smart cities, characterized by their utilization of digital technologies, data, and advanced analytics, aim to heighten the efficacy of public services, foster sustainable growth, and improve residents' well-being. Consequently, proficiently harnessing and managing data stands as a crucial element in the successful execution of smart city endeavors.

The stages of the value chain include the following:

Data acquisition
The initial stage in the data value chain is data acquisition, wherein raw data originate from diverse sources such as sensors, devices, social media platforms, and other digital channels. These data are collected, refined, and purified to produce components suitable for insertion into the Data Warehouse for subsequent analysis. In the context of smart cities, data acquisition is an ongoing process driven by the widespread deployment of connected devices and sensors integrated into urban infrastructure, including traffic lights, public transportation systems, and utility networks.

Interview with European smart city developers provide insight into the importance of this stage:

“The acquisition of data in smart city projects is important on three levels. Firstly, it is crucial when applying for European funding, as feasibility analyses and data are needed to justify the actual benefits and usefulness of these projects. Secondly, during the project development phase from acceptance to implementation, specific parameters (sustainable practices, digital accounting, and online reporting) must be met by companies collaborating with the city to participate in the bidding process. Finally, the services, infrastructure, and digital advances implemented in the smart city projects aim to generate a significant amount of data that can be used both by the European Union for project evaluation (with a guaranteed 5-year activity), and by the city for organizational and strategic purposes. This is why it is essential to organize and manage a vast amount of data throughout the smart city process.”

Data analysis
In the data analysis phase of the data value chain, the focus lies on modeling data to render it strategically valuable. This stage involves scrutinizing, interpreting, and transforming data into actionable insights. In the context of smart cities, data analysis encompasses descriptive, predictive, and prescriptive analytics techniques, empowering stakeholders to discern historical trends, predict future scenarios, and devise optimal strategies for decision-making purposes.

Data analysis holds a pivotal position in the data value chain, facilitating organizations in extracting factual information and insights from their collected data. This process entails employing diverse statistical methods and algorithms to unveil patterns, correlations, and trends inherent within the data. Through such endeavors, organizations can deepen their comprehension of operational dynamics, user behaviors, and urban landscapes, leveraging this knowledge to inform decision-making processes.

Effective data analysis demands a blend of domain-specific expertise, technical proficiency, and analytical acumen. It also necessitates the utilization of suitable tools and technologies to efficiently manage and process vast datasets. This enables smart cities to uncover concealed patterns, detect anomalies, and derive insights that drive innovation and progress across various sectors, including transportation, public safety, and environmental management.

Data curation
Data curation stands as a vital element within the data value chain of smart cities. Following the collection of data from diverse origins, it undergoes processing to render it amenable to analysis. This processing phase encompasses activities such as cleaning, organizing, and restructuring raw data into a structured format conducive to analysis. In the context of smart cities, this undertaking is notably intricate, given the substantial volume of data originating from diverse sources, compounded by the inherent complexity ingrained within governance and public management practices. This stage, also involved with the following stage, is significant for avoiding data silos and ensuring that the data is curated to be efficiently used by multiple stakeholders.

Data storage
Data storage involves the systematic clustering and scalable storage of data, enabling organizations and users to access required data promptly and efficiently. In the context of smart cities, this process becomes notably intricate due to the substantial volume of data emanating from diverse sources and the city's imperative to leverage these data strategically. Additionally, it raises concerns regarding data privacy and governance. Organizations must ensure the secure storage of collected data, safeguarding them against unauthorized access, while also maintaining a balance to prevent undue influence from data storage providers. To address this, smart cities adopt two approaches to data storage: retaining data in-house or relying on semi-governmental national providers for facilitating the smart transition of cities.

Data utilisation
The final phase of the data value chain is data utilization, wherein the insights and knowledge gleaned from data analysis are harnessed to generate value-added products, services, or solutions. In smart cities, data utilization manifests in diverse ways, including the crafting of data-driven applications, the enhancement of urban infrastructure, and the formulation of novel business models and revenue streams. This stage epitomizes the outcomes of the data value chain, marking the realization of the true value of data and holding the potential to instigate substantial enhancements in the efficiency, sustainability, and livability of urban environments.

Smart City Data management systems
Efficient data management within smart cities encompasses a multitude of intricate responsibilities, spanning from handling the substantial volumes of data produced by Internet of Things (IoT) devices, sensors, and assorted sources, to guaranteeing the security, accessibility, and utility of this data for pertinent stakeholders. Achieving this demands a blend of technical expertise, domain-specific understanding, strategic foresight, and the deployment of suitable tools and technologies to proficiently process and analyze data. There are many benefits to a properly managed data system. In particular, an effective and structured approach to data management empowers cities to:


 * 1) Formulate a cohesive data strategy delineating the objectives, priorities, and requirements of the smart city initiative, along with the necessary data capabilities to accomplish them.
 * 2) Institute data governance frameworks defining roles, responsibilities, and procedures for data collection, processing, analysis, and utilization. These frameworks also address critical issues such as data privacy, security, and quality.
 * 3) Foster data literacy and proficiency among stakeholders, including city officials, private sector entities, and citizens, ensuring their adeptness in engaging with and utilizing the data generated by smart city initiatives.
 * 4) Cultivate a data-driven ethos within the smart city ecosystem, wherein data is recognized as a valuable asset capable of driving innovation, shaping policymaking, and enhancing citizens' overall quality of life.

Characteristics (to mainly add to existing characteristics)
The smart city concept comprises various dimensions, each integral to its overall success. These dimensions, totaling six conceptually distinct characteristics, span the key facets of urban life, encompassing the economy, mobility, governance, environment, living conditions, and people. They are fundamental in shaping a contemporary and sustainable urban landscape capable of fulfilling the requirements of both residents and businesses.

Smart Economy
This facet embodies a culture of innovation, entrepreneurship, labor market flexibility, global integration, and adaptability. It serves as the cornerstone for fostering a vibrant and resilient urban economy capable of navigating evolving market dynamics and fostering business expansion.

Smart Mobility
Smart Mobility pertains to local and trans-local accessibility, ICT availability, and the development of modern, sustainable, and secure transportation systems. It plays a pivotal role in ensuring citizens' access to dependable and efficient transportation alternatives, thereby mitigating congestion, pollution, and travel times

Smart Governance
Smart Governance encompasses citizen participation in decision-making, governance system transparency, public service availability, and political strategy quality. It forms the bedrock of a democratic and participatory urban milieu, catering to the needs of both citizens and businesses.

Smart Environment
Smart Environment underscores the allure of natural conditions, pollution mitigation, and resource sustainability. This dimension is imperative for fostering a healthy and sustainable urban habitat conducive to the well-being of residents and businesses alike.

Smart Living
Smart Living involves quality of life, gauged by the availability of cultural and educational amenities, tourist attractions, social cohesion, environmental health, personal safety, and housing standards. It is paramount for crafting a habitable and inclusive urban sphere catering to diverse communities' needs.

Smart People
Smart People correlates with human and social capital qualifications, adaptability, creativity, tolerance, cosmopolitanism, and civic engagement. Smart People are instrumental in cultivating a diverse and innovative urban landscape, attracting top talent, and nurturing business growth.

Nurturing Smart City Dimensions
To guarantee the efficient coordination and equilibrium of smart city dimensions, cities ought to establish comprehensive and interconnected planning frameworks that address all dimensions concurrently. This strategy enables cities to synchronize the goals and initiatives of each dimension, fostering a unified and harmonious approach to smart city advancement. By integrating smart city objectives into urban planning procedures, cities can streamline resource allocation and reduce duplications. For instance, during infrastructure development endeavors, cities can evaluate how the smart mobility dimension can be integrated to enhance transportation systems.

The effective coordination of smart city dimensions requires active collaboration and involvement from diverse stakeholders, including government agencies, businesses, community organizations, academia, and citizens. Collaborative partnerships enable cities to harness a wide range of expertise, resources, and perspectives to tackle complex challenges and devise innovative solutions. Involving stakeholders in decision-making processes fosters inclusivity, ownership, and a shared vision for the city's future. For instance, engaging citizens in co-creating smart city initiatives ensures that solutions are tailored to meet the community's specific needs and aspirations. Collaborating with businesses and academia brings technical know-how and research capabilities, driving innovation and the adoption of state-of-the-art technologies.

These partnerships also facilitate the exchange of knowledge and insights among stakeholders. By sharing best practices and lessons learned, cities can expedite their smart city development efforts and circumvent potential challenges. Moreover, collaborations with community organizations guarantee that the social dimensions of a smart city, such as equity and inclusivity, are adequately considered in both planning and implementation phases.

Challenges
One of the primary obstacles in managing urban data revolves around fostering effective collaboration between citizens and institutions. Citizens play a pivotal role in the data landscape, generating copious amounts of data through their daily activities. However, they also harbor concerns regarding privacy and security, potentially hesitating to share their data with institutions unless reassured about its protection and responsible use.

To tackle these apprehensions, cities must cultivate a culture of trust and collaboration between citizens and institutions. This entails formulating transparent and accountable data policies, involving citizens in decision-making processes, and equipping them with the necessary tools and resources to actively participate in the data ecosystem.

Ultimately, the handling of urban data necessitates collaboration with data providers, including telecommunications companies, software developers, and data analytics firms. These entities occupy a pivotal position in data creation and management within cities, furnishing the requisite tools, infrastructure, and expertise for data collection, processing, and analysis. It is imperative for cities to forge close partnerships with these providers to secure access to essential data and tools, thereby optimizing their services and fostering fresh opportunities for social and economic advancement, whilst also ensuring that these companies are not taking advantage of this data.

Data security
Digitalization presents challenges, particularly concerning the security and privacy of citizens' data, and may inadvertently create a disconnect between citizens and institutions.

Concepts and failures
Although smart cities in their modern manifestation are a new concept, utopian visions of how we could physically organise society and our cities can be found as early as the 16th century. Thomas More’s Utopia, a fictional island society in the New World is a landmark depiction of the future. Based around the challenges affecting urban England in the early 16th century, Utopia “manifests itself as a future state of affairs that stands in opposition to war, oppression, and in justice, by proposing a new social structure based on common ownership.” Others include Edward Bellamy’s own utopia based on the struggles of industrial 19th century United States which depict a world without a modern capitalistic system and instead a world of universal employment and total equality.

Other earlier concepts originate from architecture and planners. One of the earliest concepts of what we can now refer to as a smart city came in the form of the Garden Cities, envisioned by Ebenezer Howard. In reaction to overpopulation and industrial pollution, garden cities were envisioned as compact towns "surrounded by rolling green belts and populated by self-contained and self-sufficient communities." They would grow into the countryside from cities, with the belief that this connection between cities and rural environments would set the ground for new developments and lifestyles, and allow more sustainable urban planning policies with the potential to end urban poverty. However, the garden city experiments have only failed, being incapable of building truly self-sufficient communities and properly aiding the needs of low-wage workers. Furthermore, its financial model was not conducive to attracting sufficient financial investments.

However, despite their drawbacks, the ideals of the garden city movements did not disappear. Figures like Frank Lloyd Wright and Charles Edouard Jeanneret, better known as Le Corbusier were also stimulated by similar visions of the future.

Le Corbusier’s revolutionary Radian City city plan revolved around the idea that the unsustainable development patterns and shortcomings of 19th century cities could not evolve into modern cities for the 20th century, and instead that cities should be build anew. “These are the main features of the Radian City, which rises from a regular layout and a highly organised zoning system composed of the following parallel areas: satellite towns for hosting special functions, such as government buildings; the business center; railroad station and air terminal; hotels and embassies; housing areas segregated by income, which are split between middle-class apartments in monolithic skyscrapers or luxury high-density living arrangements and six-story buildings and modest accommodations for lower-income residents factories; warehouses; and heavy industry.” Le Corbusier felt that “the city of today is dying because it is not constructed geometrically. To build on a clear site is to replace the accidental layout of the ground, the only one that exists today, by the formal layout. Otherwise nothing can save us. And the consequence of geometrical plans is repetition and mass-production And as a consequence of repetition, the standard is created, and so perfection."

However, attempts to replicate his vision in the real world failed. Studies of Chandigarh, a new city build developed in the 1950s around Le Corbusier’s Radian City, was by the 1980s an ‘incubator of poverty and injustice, uncovering the limitations of the utopian vision proposed by Le Corbusier. The project has been accused of having a “profound misunderstanding of human nature,’ a lack of concern for the lifestyle habits, and a misguided assumption that a one-size-fits-all design can fulfil everyone’s needs.

Approaching cities with a new models was also the goal for Frank Lloyd Wright with his vision of Broadacre City. He believed that innovation and technologies would allow humans to leave industrial cities and adopt rural, lower-density settlements in more natural environments. It was meant to ‘reestablish the symbiotic relationship between human beings and natural environments.’

The projects conception began in 1924, building on similar foundations and philosophical principles as Howard’s garden city. They shared the same: “rejection of the big city, the same populist antipathy to finance capital and landlordism, and same anarchist rejection of big government, the same reliance on the liberating effects of new technologies, and the same belief in the homesteading principle and the return to the land." His goal was to assign each family an acre of land, and to move away from the vertical movement of cities upwards in the form of skyscrapers.

Although he was never given the opportunity to build his city, critics comment that the US’s suburban expansion in the 1940s satisfies some of Wright’s ideals. However, as this has evolved and people move further away from cities, there have been some unsustainable consequences of land fragmentation, including: disrupting wildlife and biodiversity, hydrologic systems, and energy flows, decreasing agricultural productivity, increasing cost of public service provision and greater investment in the construction of roads. Furthermore, research has shown that residents who belong to sprawling areas are likely to weigh more, do less exercise, and are more likely to have high blood pressure.

Although valuable in providing insight into the development and shortfalls of the concept of smart cities, these attempts demonstrate that the sustainable urban development which these “utopian visionaries like Wright, Howard and Le Corbusier were so passionately trying to reach cannot materialize through simplistic sets of universal rules and standards, because they will always fall short of understanding the complexity of urban life.” “For as many commenters suggest, approaching sustainable urban development by using autocratic and top-down visionary schemes can produce nothing but the illusions of a universal panacea for urban problems.”

Defining Smart Cities and its Terminology
MOVED UP

Building blocks
The first “building block” entails fostering a collaborative environment that integrates the industry-government-research relationships characteristic of the triple-helix model, alongside the participatory aspects of civil society organizations and citizens. This environment fosters the amalgamation of knowledge, skills, and interests among individuals and organizations to collectively design and implement a citywide smart city development strategy. European experiences indicate that establishing such an environment necessitates cities to promote public-private collaboration, enhance the active engagement of civil society in smart city initiatives, foster bottom-up development processes leveraging ICT innovations, enhance digital literacy, and elevate stakeholders' understanding of the benefits of smart city development.

The second “building block” involves crafting a comprehensive strategic framework to govern the smart city transformation process. This framework, devised by local governments, serves to guide collaborative efforts towards shared objectives. It encompasses delineating long-term vision, defining objectives for ICT solution deployment, identifying key application domains and urban sustainability issues, setting standards and technical requirements, establishing evaluation methods, and instituting a governance system to oversee the transition to smart cities and the adoption of an ICT-driven approach to urban sustainability. Within this governance structure lies the smart city accelerator, a dedicated entity or working group tasked with expediting the city's transformation into a smart environment. This accelerator can either operate as a public-private organization with independent legal status or as a component embedded within the city government's organizational structure.

The third “building block” encompasses a city-scale network infrastructure comprising hardware and software resources. This technological backbone facilitates data transmission and grants city users access to ICT services and applications aimed at addressing urban sustainability challenges. These digital solutions represent the fourth and final “building block” of the smart city, and their adoption relies on an integrated intervention logic spanning various application domains.

Smart City Schools of Thought
Recently analysis of smart city literature uncovers five primary school of thought which present varied interpretations of smart cities and the trajectories for development necessary to enact the ICT-driven approach to urban sustainability they embody:


 * "Experimental path: smart cities are described as urban testbeds for experimenting loT infrastructures and service applications for urban sustainability and analyzing their functioning, relevance, and potential impact in real-life environments.
 * Ubiquitous path: smart cities and ubiquitous cities are considered as two equivalent categories of cities whereby data describing the functionality of the city is provided everywhere and anytime and their development is driven by corporate suppliers' financial interests, market perspectives, and economic impacts rather than public good.
 * Corporate path: cities become smart when they are equipped with a one-size-fits-all platform of interconnected sensing devices and digital solutions provided by ICT consultancies.
 * European path: smart cities are highly efficient urban systems in which digital technologies are used to develop a new generation of buildings, energy networks, and transport systems, which are instrumental in tackling environmental degradation and fighting climate change.
 * Holistic path: smart cities are urban environments in which digital technologies are assembled to meet local development needs and their development process is grounded in collective intelligence, bottom-up actions, participatory governance, open and user-driven innovation, and community-led urban development."

Differences between these conceptualisations lead to contradictions over difference practices of smart city development. Mora and Deakins highlight key dichotomies between the school of thought that surround smart city theory and development in “Unravelling Smart Cities.” The first is whether a technology-led or holistic approach to smart cities is the most beneficial.

Technology-led approach versus a holistic approach
Each development path maintains the common concept of smart cities as urban environments where ICTs serve as a means to bolster urban sustainability. Nonetheless, the strategy they advocate for facilitating smart city development stands out as a primary point of divergence evident in their comparison.

The experimental, ubiquitous, and corporate paths align in advocating for a technology-driven and market-oriented method towards smart city development. This approach is predominantly founded on the notion that ICT and market dynamics serve as the principal catalysts shaping smart cities, facilitated by the integration of technological solutions into the urban landscape. The growing interest in this developmental approach is evidenced by the participation of various ICT companies, including ABB, Fujitsu, and Siemens, who have joined IBM in positioning themselves within the smart city market with their respective products.

Evidence of this is provided by researchers Kitchin and Alizadeh who cite the Smarter Planet initiative and its associated Smarter City Challenge. This initiative actively promotes IBM’s vision of smart city development, inviting cities to vie for consultancy, technical support, and grants from IBM aimed at fostering technological solutions for urban advancement.

However, a significant portion of academic literature deems this technology-driven approach, reliant on supply-push solutions, as inadequate for addressing smart city development. This perspective is critiqued for promoting a utopian and technologically deterministic viewpoint primarily serving the interests of technology providers. Furthermore, this body of literature highlights several concerns and tensions associated with the technology-led approach, including issues related to privacy, democracy, security, and the necessity of considering both local diversity and the socio-political dimensions of cities. Researchers opposing this vision advocate for a more progressive and holistic perspective that views smart cities not merely as technological fixes resulting from the integration of ICT solutions into urban infrastructures, but as intricate socio-technical systems wherein technological advancement is harmonized with human, social, cultural, economic, and environmental factors.

Top-down versus Bottom-up approach to smart city development
The second dichotomy they highlight is the debate between a top-down or bottom-up approach to smart city development. The disparity between these divergent approaches creates a secondary division. On one side, top-down smart cities stem from municipal governments, taking on a leadership role in conceptualizing and spearheading the execution of a comprehensive strategy to foster smart city development. Owing to its high degree of centralization, this approach is frequently marked by restricted opportunities for citizen involvement in the developmental process.

Conversely, bottom-up smart city development relies on self-organization and grassroots initiatives, prioritizing these over the presence of a comprehensive strategic framework. The discourse surrounding these two diametrically opposed approaches has yielded varying opinions regarding their efficacy. For instance, Lee and Hancock (2012), in their model for assessing smart city maturity, advocate for a formalized and centralized top-down smart city development strategy aligned with the city's strategic objectives, favoring it over a bottom-up approach. However, criticisms of top-down smart cities have been voiced by Shin, as well as more recently by Townsend and Gooch et al., who argue that such cities fail to effectively serve the needs of citizens, instead prioritizing "the demands of major corporate suppliers and industry."

Townsend (2013) characterizes smart cities as products of grassroots movements and advocates for a transformative departure from top-down innovation methodologies towards open and bottom-up innovation processes. He contends that top-down visions overlook the significant and innovative contributions of grassroots initiatives and underscores the crucial role of enhancing citizen and civic group participation in decision-making processes concerning the integration of ICT solutions in urban settings. Other scholars similarly acknowledge the significance of empowering citizens and affording them opportunities to actively engage as agents of change in the smart city development process.

However, neither approach is believed to work in isolation and that combining them is necessary. Breuer argues that “a purely top-down view on the smart city carries a danger of authoritarianism with it, while a bottom-up-only approach leans towards chaos and lack of long-term vision.”

Double or quadruple-helix approach to smart city development
The contrast between the holistic path and the corporate path is further underscored when examining the collaborative frameworks they propose for transitioning conventional urban areas into smart cities. On one hand, the corporate path advocates for a technology-centric, market-driven, and top-down approach to smart city development, leading to a new urbanism where IT solution providers seek to persuade local governments to endorse sustainable urban growth by adopting their smart technologies.

The collaborative model associated with this developmental trajectory revolves around a double-helix structure, wherein interaction occurs solely between: (1) solution providers acting as consultants offering technological solutions and (2) city governments persuaded to support smart city development by integrating such proprietary technologies. This closed collaborative model fosters an entrepreneurial governance paradigm wherein IT corporations operating in the smart city services market emerge as "he primary providers of solutions to urban issues.

However, numerous researchers contend that such a restricted collaborative model fails to harness the intellectual capital necessary for driving smart city development. Their research advocates for a broader collaborative ecosystem encompassing the interests of governments, academia, industry (triple-helix structure), as well as those articulated by citizens and civil society organizations (quadruple-helix structure). According to this collaborative model, “different urban stakeholders (public, private, and civic) [need to] engage in coalitions and innovate together” in order for smart city development strategies to be successful.”

Mono-dimensional or integrated approach to smart city development
The fourth debate that the writers highlight is between a mono-dimensional or integrated approach to smart city implementation. In particular, the Europe Commission’s development part for smart cities has a relatively mono-dimensional approach; it focuses primarily on the energy sector, advocating a narrow view of smart cities as being primarily low-carbon and resource-efficient urban environments. This perspective emphasizes investment in smart transport, buildings, and grids. Since 2009, the Commission has championed this energy-centric approach to smart city development through various initiatives, including the launch of the Smart Cities and Communities Initiative, the establishment of the European Innovation Partnership on Smart Cities and Communities, and the continual issuance of calls for project proposals in this domain, which offer financial support to public and private entities for implementing innovative solutions to facilitate cities' transition toward a low-carbon, resource-efficient economy.

Conversely, the holistic, experimental, ubiquitous, and corporate paths advocate for a comprehensive and multifaceted strategy in the development of smart cities. This approach is endorsed by IBM and Cisco Systems, who advocate for their smart city operating systems. These systems are comprehensive ICT platforms that integrate various digital solutions and applications to enhance the management of urban systems, encompassing areas such as energy and utilities, parking, environment, safety and security, transportation, education, and healthcare.

Smart city successes and insights
For a list of smart cities, see List of smart cities.

Recent analysis has highlighted Amsterdam, Barcelona, Helsinki and Vienna as four of the leading cities which are moving towards smart cities, with each of the cities consistently ranking highly on lists and winning awards for their smart city progress. Following on from the theories of the previous section, researchers looked to investigate whether these four successful smart cities exhibited characteristics which solved these debates.

Smart city successes - Technology-led approach versus a holistic approach

Amsterdam, Barcelona, Helsinki, and Vienna have adopted remarkably similar approaches to smart city development, emphasizing strategies that prioritize two key aspects: (1) the utilization of ICT solutions to address urban sustainability challenges, and (2) the establishment of both a strategic framework and an open, inclusive collaborative environment to facilitate the gradual implementation of these technological solutions. This demonstrates the commitment of these exemplary practices to embrace a holistic perspective on smart cities. They view them not merely as technology-driven entities resulting from the integration of interconnected ICT devices and applications, but rather as socio-technical systems. In these systems, technological advancement aligns with human, social, cultural, economic, and environmental considerations. This is evidenced by how around 60% of smart city activities and initiates in each of the four cities involved the establishment of a strategic framework or community building.

For instance, through initiatives like iCity, CitySDK, Commons4EU, Smart Together, and Open Cities, these four cities have devised and implemented novel user-driven innovation methodologies. These methodologies aim to empower local communities, enhance their level of engagement in the smart city realm, and facilitate co-creation processes for digital services serving public interests.

Amsterdam, in addition, has launched Startupbootcamp to further promote collaboration. This accelerator program connects startups operating within the smart city sphere with mentors, potential partners, and investors, thereby enhancing the quality of their offerings. The objective of this initiative is to bolster the city's entrepreneurial ethos and expedite the development of new digital innovation endeavors on a city-wide scale.

Overall, these cities highlight the importance of a holistic approach to smart cities.

Smart city successes — Double or quadruple-helix approach to smart city development

Mora and Deakin's analysis of the design and implementation processes of the four smart city development strategies revealed that they have utilised collaborative environments involving numerous diverse organizations.

Research indicates that the collaboration between the public and private sectors serves as the primary driving force behind the four smart city development strategies and the corresponding activities they have enacted. However, in contradiction to the theories of some researchers, the analysis conclusively demonstrated that these programs predominantly stem from a triple-helix collaboration model, emphasizing the interplay between research, industry, and government. Notably, civil society organizations are less prominently featured within this collaborative framework.

This analysis indicates that civil society organizations are not fully integrated into collaborative environments. However, other evidence suggests that the four cities have made efforts to bridge smart city development with civil society. Out of the activities and initiatives analysed, 40.2% in Amsterdam, 33.3% in Barcelona, 58.8% in Helsinki and 24.1% in Vienna show evidence of citizens’ involvement. They have achieved this by actively engaging citizens in the creation of smart city projects and initiatives. Although citizen involvement is observed in only a limited number of initiatives, such endeavours signal a step toward embracing a quadruple-helix collaborative model and the open, user-centric innovation approach it embodies. This objective is clearly articulated in the strategic frameworks developed by the four cities to guide and regulate smart city development.

The analysis of activities reveals that citizens have been engaged in various roles, including (1) users who test ICT solutions and offer feedback, (2) developers who receive support to create new digital services for public benefit, or (3) residents expressing their ideas and needs during workshops and meetings with other stakeholders. For instance, citizens have been encouraged to participate in stakeholder forums and contribute to the formulation of Vienna's smart city strategic framework. These forums serve as platforms for exchanging ideas and fostering greater transparency, participation, and collaboration in the smart city sphere. A similar approach is adopted in Amsterdam, where group meetings and workshops are regularly organized, providing citizens with opportunities to collectively discuss their specific needs and potential ICT-driven projects and initiatives to address them.

Overall, although certain insights suggest a triple-helix approach to smart city development, citizen and civil society organisations are engaged with on a certain level in each of these cities.

Smart city successes — Top-down versus Bottom-up approach to smart city development

The smart city development strategies of Amsterdam, Barcelona, Helsinki, and Vienna blend elements of both top-down and bottom-up approaches. These cities' governments stand out as highly engaged entities within collaborative frameworks, spearheading between 44% and 91% of the collective initiatives. This statistical insight underscores the pivotal role played by local administrations and reaffirms their dedication to advancing smart city agendas.

City governments have refrained from centralizing the implementation process of smart city development strategies, opting instead to assume leadership roles. Their objectives include: (1) fostering an open, inclusive, and cohesive collaborative environment by convening diverse groups of individuals and organizations; (2) furnishing these broad communities with a strategic framework to align their endeavours toward common goals, leveraging collective intelligence and shared interests in smart city development; (3) facilitating the expansion of this collaborative environment over time; and (4) encouraging bottom-up development processes.

The four city governments achieve these objectives through a shared approach. Firstly, each city adopts a strategic framework outlined in policy documents that formally articulate the government's commitment to fostering smart city development. These documents serve to: (1) provide a long-term vision, (2) establish objectives for local community prosperity, (3) identify key application domains and urban sustainability priorities for focus, and (4) establish governance systems to facilitate and expedite the transition towards embracing an ICT-driven approach to urban sustainability.

Local governments have also endeavored to enhance the knowledge base of local communities concerning urban technologies and their capacity to oversee smart city development. This has entailed backing the creation and implementation of new planning and operational tools, user-driven innovation methodologies, recommendations, guidelines, standards, technical requirements, and evaluation and assessment methodologies.

Furthermore, local governments collaborate to arrange and oversee forums, conferences, workshops, educational programs, and meetings focused on smart city development. This serves multiple purposes: gathering ideas, comments, and feedback on cities' ICT needs; generating interest and informing the community; involving new stakeholders to broaden the collaborative environment; enhancing public awareness of the potential benefits ICTs offer in urban settings; promoting digital literacy; and fostering collaboration.

Smart city successes - Mono-dimensional or integrated approach to smart city development

Mono-dimensional approaches to smart city developments are often predominantly singular in the approach, for example focusing only on improving smart transport in a city without trying to tie the task to other initiatives.

Vienna and Amsterdam's focus on smart city development primarily revolves around implementing solutions for smart transport, smart building, and smart grid systems aimed at fostering low-carbon and energy-efficient urban settings. A significant portion of their ICT solutions deployed for smart city development targets mitigating climate change and enhancing energy efficiency across mobility and transport, urban buildings and districts, and power infrastructures. This approach aligns closely with the European Commission's definition of smart cities.

However, data indicates that both cities have expanded beyond this singular focus by addressing additional policy areas and urban sustainability challenges. For instance, technological innovations are leveraged to manage natural resources beyond energy, enhance the quality of public transport services through real-time information provision, facilitate collaboration and communication among residents, businesses, governmental authorities, and welfare organizations via digital platforms, offer digital solutions for remote work, and improve the health and well-being of citizens in the context of aging populations. Additionally, Barcelona and Helsinki also share an emphasis on transport, with 33% and 43% of their integrated smart city solutions respectively dedicated to this application domain.

Collective smart city insights

Overall, these four prominent European smart cities have demonstrated themselves as intricate socio-technical systems, where the advancement of smart city initiatives arises from the fusion of innovative ICT services, applications, and systems aimed at addressing or alleviating urban challenges.

Collectively, these cities lead to the following insights:


 * For technological developments to succeed, cities must: (1) synchronize technological advancements with the elements of a holistic and thorough strategic framework capable of ensuring long-term sustainability and unifying individuals and organizations towards common objectives; and (2) establish an open, inclusive, and dynamic collaborative environment that enhances the capabilities of these individuals and organizations to collaborate effectively and engage in the joint creation of ICT-driven initiatives that expedite urban sustainability efforts.
 * Collaboration stands as the cornerstone for the successful execution of smart city development strategies, and fostering the expansion of an open, inclusive, and dynamic collaborative environment is critical in achieving this goal. In shaping this collaborative landscape, it is essential to: (1) foster collaboration between the public and private sectors, (2) establish the industry-government-research relationships inherent in the triple-helix collaborative model, and (3) dedicate significant efforts to enhancing the participatory nature of civil society by gradually transitioning towards a quadruple-helix model of stakeholder engagement. Embracing this model promotes an open and user-centric approach to innovation.
 * Robust engagement mechanisms and user-driven innovation methodologies are indispensable for uniting diverse communities comprising heterogeneous organizations representing the triple helix, and for enhancing citizen and civil society organizations' involvement in co-creating digital services of public significance. The outcomes justify the endeavor, as heightened citizen engagement enables the acquisition of valuable localized knowledge, which can be leveraged in the integration and implementation of ICT-driven urban innovations.
 * As agreed upon my a number of researchers, a combination of top-down and bottom-up initiatives are important to the success of smart cities.   Estevez remarks that “A purely top-down view on the smart city carries a danger of authoritarianism with it, while a bottom-up-only approach leans towards chaos and lack of long-term vision.” Consequently: Governments play a pivotal role in formulating and executing strategies for smart city development, with a focus on fostering conditions conducive to the collaboration of individuals and organizations to advance smart city initiatives. To accomplish this objective, city administrations must prioritize smart city development on their political agenda and establish essential tools such as a strategic framework and a smart city accelerator. These mechanisms serve several critical functions: (1) cultivating an open, inclusive, and unified collaborative environment necessary to drive smart city development and facilitate the bottom-up development process; (2) fostering partnerships for the joint implementation of ICT-driven initiatives; and (3) orchestrating the efforts of this collaborative environment towards achieving shared objectives that align with the city's vision and priorities.
 * Smart city accelerators - city task force: In addition to implementing a strategic framework, local governments must establish a smart city accelerator—a dedicated working group tasked with expediting the transition of the city into a smart environment. This entails bolstering the collaborative capacity of individuals and organizations to drive innovative ICT initiatives. Drawing from insights gleaned from best practice analyses, the key responsibilities of these working groups include: fostering the generation of novel ideas for ICT interventions, engaging potential partners to form new consortia, disseminating information on available financial instruments and funding mechanisms to support projects, facilitating access to local, regional, and international networks, monitoring ICT interventions to ensure alignment with strategic framework objectives, and promoting the city's smart city development strategy by facilitating the establishment of new partnerships and acquisition of resources. Drawing from the experiences of Amsterdam, Barcelona, Helsinki, and Vienna, smart city accelerators can either operate as part of the city council or existing community organizations, or they can be established as autonomous public-private entities with independent legal identities.

Smart city research and institutes
While the concept of smart cities has gained increasing popularity over time, it saw a surge in adoption around 2005, particularly among technology companies. These companies sought to integrate smart city principles into urban infrastructures and services, creating sophisticated information systems to enhance operational efficiency within urban areas or cities.

Labs and research centres have been built to help academic researchers study how smart cities develop. They are now working with some of the top research institutions worldwide.

MIT has recently established the "City Science Lab and the Senseable City Lab," focusing on using smart technologies in architecture, personal mobility vehicles, and urban planning. Their research aims to develop decision support systems and visualisation tools to improve city management. These tools will analyse large amounts of data, made possible by advancements in the ICT sector, to better understand urban environments. The insights gained can help local governments adopt data-driven approaches to urban design and planning.

Other institutions working on the subject include: the Centre for Advanced Spatial Analysis of University College London, the Data Science Institute's Smart Cities Center at Columbia University, in New York City; the University of Cambridge's Centre for Smart Infrastructure and Construction; Smart City Research at the Oxford Internet Institute; the Future Cities Laboratory ETH Zurich and the National Research Foundation of Singapore, the Smart Cities Institute at Swinburne University of Technology in Australia.

Private companies, solution providers and consulting firms operating within the ICT sector are increasingly venturing into the realm of urban technologies, focusing on specialization in smart city development. One such example is the International Data Corporation (IDC), which offers research advisory services to city and national governments, aiding them in harnessing digital technology to enhance urban operations and public service delivery. Similarly, the International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) and Cisco Systems provide comparable advisory services, alongside their respective ICT solution platforms tailored for supporting smart city initiatives. Additionally, IBM has established the Smarter Cities Technology Centre since 2010, a European-based research facility dedicated to exploring smart technologies and their implications, staffed by an interdisciplinary team of researchers. Microsoft, Hitachi and Huawei are also now delivering smart city services.

Similar interest in the concept is illustrated by government commitments. In Africa, the advancement of smart city development stands as a central component of the national agenda for socioeconomic progress. The 55 member states of the African Union Commission, representing nearly the entire continent, have pledged to utilize ICTs to advance sustainable urban development.

The United States has allocated more than $160 million toward smart city initiatives aimed at leveraging ICT to address challenges within local communities. These challenges include alleviating traffic congestion, fostering economic growth, combating crime and climate change, and enhancing the delivery of public services. This decision aligns with the findings of a trend analysis conducted by the National Intelligence Council (NIC), a think tank focused on long-term strategic planning that reports directly to the President of the United States.

Members of the EU have been working on smart city developments and ICT initiatives for over a decade. In order to optimize the benefits of digital technologies for both citizens and businesses, the European Union and its 28 member states have initiated the Digital Agenda for Europe. This strategic framework emphasizes the imperative for Europe to harness ICTs to confront numerous global challenges confronting modern society, and to foster the sustainability of urban environments. Within the 2014-15 budget of the Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation program, the European Commission allocated approximately 200 million Euros to expedite advancements in the domain of smart cities and communities, as well as to expand the implementation of ICT solutions for addressing urban sustainability concerns.

Europe's endeavours to adopt an ICT-driven approach toward urban sustainability align with its contributions to the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the New Urban Agenda, both pivotal policy frameworks outlined by the United Nations (UN). These documents highlight the imperative for transformative actions aimed at fostering inclusivity, safety, resilience, and sustainability on a global scale. Specifically, the New Urban Agenda emphasizes the importance of supporting cities in facilitating smart city development, marking it as a fundamental commitment for the UN's 193 member states. This underscores the significance of addressing urban challenges through the deployment of ICT-related innovations. Such actions are crucial for: (1) fostering environmentally friendly, resource-efficient, safe, inclusive, and accessible urban environments; (2) sustaining economic growth grounded in principles of environmental sustainability and inclusive prosperity; and (3) ensuring equitable access for all to public goods and high-quality services.

Recently, a global movement has emerged advocating the adoption of ICT solutions to foster a smart city approach towards urban sustainability. This movement is propelling a burgeoning technology market projected to experience exponential growth. According to IDC, expenditure worldwide on technological solutions for smart cities was estimated to reach $80 billion in 2018 and $135 billion in 2021. Additionally, market intelligence from consulting firms including ARUP, BCC Research, Research and Markets, and Frost & Sullivan offers even more optimistic projections. When these forecasts are combined, the smart city technology market is anticipated to reach $408 billion by 2020 and $775 billion by 2021. Subsequently, it is expected to surge to between $2,000 and $3,600 billion by 2025.

Although there are notable variations in global forecasts up to 2025, a consensus arises: due to escalating demand for ICT solutions in urban sustainability, the global market for smart city technologies will expand substantially in the coming years, and with great speed.

Cities in the digital era
UN forecasts predict the global population will likely hit 9.6 to 13.2 billion by 2100, with cities absorbing 80% of this growth. This shift mirrors the urban-rural breakdown in EU countries, nearing 75-25%. The surge in population poses daunting challenges for cities, which already grapple with meeting the needs of a growing populace sustainably. This demographic shift has led to rising inefficiencies that parallel the growth of urban populations, necessitating a reevaluation of strategies for sustainable urban development. Novel approaches to urban sustainability are imperative, and leveraging the potential of technological advancements in the digital revolution will be essential in attaining this goal.

During the latest wave of technological innovation, cities shaped by the Industrial Revolution have undergone rapid transformation due to the advancements of the digital revolution. This evolution has seen new ICT devices and infrastructure assume a myriad of roles within urban areas, resulting in profound shifts in the dynamics of urban development. Present-day society is experiencing what can be described as "a rapid and silent revolution," presenting a fresh opportunity to bolster sustainable urban development by leveraging information and existing communication technologies to address sustainability challenges. The task at hand is to grasp the emerging technological trends spawned by the digital revolution and capitalize on their potential to effect social, economic, and environmental enhancements necessary for sustainable urban development. Utilising existing ICTs is becoming increasingly easy, as modern electronics have only become better whilst also become more affordable and accessible to wider populations.

DON'T NEED TO INCLUDE BELOW

As of 2016, close to half of the global population had internet access. According to data from the ITU spanning the past 13 years, mobile broadband subscriptions have significantly surpassed fixed broadband subscriptions. By 2016, mobile broadband accounted for 81% of active broadband subscriptions worldwide. Consequently, the growing number on-the-move devices connected to the internet only better the potential for using ICT technology to innovate and develop smart cities.

Smart city companies
Defined by the UN, there are urban transformative goals for urban sustainability that each initiative should aim to achieve. These commitments include: “(1) facilitating the sustainable management of natural resources, (2) ensuring equal access to basic services and infrastructures, (3) improving food security, (4) promoting environmentally sound waste management and reducing waste generation, and (5) improving the resilience of cities to natural disasters.” Companies are using big-data to understand the behaviour of city users to aid these goals. Insights of this are used to raise awareness to issues affecting urban environments and help support policy-making and improve the lives of citizens.

The following examples of initiatives are highlighted in Untangling Smart Cities by Luca Mora and Mark Deakin:

HubCab
The primary objective of this project was to contribute to the reduction of air pollution in New York City by promoting taxi-sharing among its users. The project aimed to achieve several key outcomes: (1) demonstrate the positive impact of widespread taxi-sharing on environmental sustainability and cost reduction for taxi services, (2) instigate behavioural changes in personal mobility habits related to taxi usage, and (3) provide valuable insights to local policymakers regarding the feasibility and effectiveness of implementing a new taxi-sharing system or program in New York City.

HubCab emerged from a collaboration among researchers at the Senseable City Lab of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), German automaker Audi, and multinational conglomerate General Electric. Together, these partners analyzed an entire year's worth of taxi trips originating and terminating in Manhattan. This analysis was conducted using data from the 172 million trips recorded by New York City taxis in 2011, facilitated by the Global Positioning System (GPS) trackers mandated for installation in all city taxis since 2008, covering nearly 14,000 vehicles. The data collected included details of each trip, such as vehicle ID, travel duration, and GPS coordinates of pickup and drop-off locations. This data was processed using a mathematical model to visualize the results as an interactive map of user activity. By selecting pickup and drop-off points on the HubCab map, users could access information on trip frequency between these locations at different times of the day. This information enabled the project team to estimate the potential benefits of taxi-sharing, including cost savings for passengers, reduced traffic congestion, and CO2 emissions reduction.

The HubCab project exemplifies how the integration of wireless sensor networks into urban environments, driving the big-data movement and expanding the Internet of Things (IoT), enables the representation of complex urban dynamics and facilitates the adoption of urban sustainability practices.

Smart Citizen Barcelona Fab Lab
The Smart Citizen Kit originates from a collaborative project initiated in 2012 involving Fab Lab Barcelona, the Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia, and Geoteo as project partners.

This compact hardware device comprises environmental sensors, a data-processing board, a battery, and a Wi-Fi antenna. Capable of measuring air composition, temperature, humidity, light intensity, solar radiation, wavelength exposure, and sound levels, the sensors capture real-time information. This data is then transmitted to the Smart Citizen online platform, where each kit's location is recorded, and the data is presented on an interactive map. Accessible via a web link, the map empowers citizens to assess the environmental conditions of specific locations and make comparisons across different geographic areas.

Pachube
Pachube serves as another illustration of an online platform designed for crowdsourcing user-generated environmental data. Similar to the Smart Citizen platform, Pachube allows various Internet-connected devices to transmit real-time environmental data, which is then stored in a cloud-based system and presented on an interactive map. This platform provides users with an open, online monitoring service that encourages participation from everyone to contribute and access information.

During the Fukushima earthquake and nuclear emergency, Pachube emerged as the primary hub for integrating and disseminating crowdsourced radiation data, facilitating the distribution of crucial environmental information throughout the country.

Disabilities
Online platforms aggregating crowd-generated data not only facilitate cities in monitoring environmental quality but also contribute to enhancing accessibility in urban areas. For instance, pervasive computing technology holds the potential to improve the quality of life for individuals with disabilities by furnishing them with timely information and aiding in their independent navigation of their surroundings.

In 2010, the non-profit organisation Social Heroes introduced Wheelmap, an online map dedicated to identifying wheelchair-accessible locations. Wheelmap operates on a model akin to Wikipedia, where users share their firsthand knowledge regarding the accessibility of places they've visited. The platform enables anyone to participate in its expansion by (1) pinpointing public places globally, (2) evaluating their accessibility levels for individuals with mobility impairments, (3) updating details related to any location, and (4) uploading photographs.

Food security
FoodCloud ( https://food.cloud ) exemplifies how information and communication technology can be utilized to combat hunger and address food waste. Operating in both the United Kingdom and Ireland, FoodCloud functions as an online food-sharing platform that notifies charities and community organizations when surplus food becomes available for donation. This surplus food is contributed by retail partners, including some of the largest chains of supermarkets in Ireland and Britain.

When these retail partners have excess food, they can input a description of the items into the FoodCloud warehousing system using either in-store scanners or the FoodCloud mobile application. Once a donation request is submitted, it promptly reaches the local charities and community organizations that have partnered with FoodCloud. These organizations receive instant alerts through the app, prompting them to confirm their acceptance of the donated food and initiate the collection process. Presently, FoodCloud supports a network comprising more than 11,500 organizations, with approximately 7,500 being charities and community groups.