Sixteen Shades of Smart - Preview

20 Sixteen shades of smart

KPMG), mobility (Deloitte, Waze, TomTom), quality of life (Deutsche Bank, Mercer, UN Habitat), or sustainability (Siemens). There are also country-specific rankings of cities, such as the UK Smart City Index (Huawei); the Italia Smart City Index (Ernst & Young); and the Smart Dubai Index (Smart Dubai Initiative). However incomplete this short account of the landscape of rankings may be, it points out the stakeholders in a smart city undertaking. In addition to residents and local government, these include the private providers of services, entities that can study the needs and impacts of different options and, of course, the enterprises that provide local employment. It is, therefore, no easy task to navigate this landscape of smart city initiatives while doing justice to multiple (and sometimes conflicting) stakeholder interests. Why, then, do we need another project on smart cities, given the amount of information that is already out there? The simple answer is that it is exactly because of the extensive interest in smart cities that there is a need for a careful focus on the term and its measures. What exactly do we mean by classifying a city as smart and which entity makes this decision? Equally important is the question of quantifying the smartness of a city, especially since certain aspects are tangible and therefore, measurable, while others are intangible, yet there is a need to place them in a measurable framework. This book presents the first step towards a systematic study of what makes a city smart. What are the smart initiatives undertaken? Who decides on the projects? And how are the outcomes quantified? Our approach relies on an in-depth study of a specific group of cities, comparing them for potential common elements and differences. By exploring and comparing the cases of individual cities thoroughly, we shall contribute to the second step of our project, that is to outline a potential framework for designing and producing a smart city index. Smart city definition Several alternative dimensions have been suggested for the definition of a smart city. For instance, Albino et al. (2015) outline the notions of the intelligent, knowledge, virtual, ubiquitous or, simply, digital city to name just a few. In this article, the authors provide a (partial) list of 23 definitions that appeared between 2000 and 2014. A notable distinction arises between the sustainable city and the smart city. In general, a smart city implies the utilization of information technology to enhance the services and goods provided to the residents. While a sustainable city is one that focuses more exclusively on environmental protection and air quality to improve the lives of residents. More recently, the United Nations Economic Commission for

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