Classifying pathways for smart city development: comparing design, governance and implementation in Amsterdam, Barcelona, Dubai, and Abu Dhabi
Open accessAbstract
The emergence of the Internet of Things (IoT) as the new paradigm of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and rapid changes in technology and urban needs urge cities around the world towards formulating smart city policies. Nevertheless, policy makers, city planners, and practitioners appear to have quite different expectations from what smart cities can offer them. This has led to the emergence of different types of smart cities and pathways of development. This paper aims to answer the research question: When comparing a selection of smart city projects, can we classify pathways for their implementation? We do this by using a cross-case research design of four cities to explore commonalities and differences in development patterns. An input-output (IO) model of smart city development is used to retrieve which design variables are at play and lead to which output. The four cases pertain to the following smart city projects: Smart Dubai, Masdar City, Barcelona Smart City, and Amsterdam Smart City. Our analysis shows that Amsterdam is based on a business-driven approach that puts innovation at its core; for Masdar, technological optimism is the main essence of the pathway; social inclusion is the focus of Barcelona Smart City; and visionary ambitious leadership is the main driver for Smart Dubai. Based on these insights, a classification for smart city development pathways is established. The results of the present study are useful to academic researchers, smart city practitioners, and policy makers.
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
The energy transition model of Barcelona aims to produce a 100% certified renewable energy supply plan through smart energy.
“Similar to Stockholm City [53], the energy transition model of Barcelona as one of the leading smart cities in Europe, aims to produce a 100 % certified renewable energy supply plan through smart energy [154].”
From Smarter eco-cities and their leading-edge artificial intelligence of things solutions for environmental sustainability: A comprehensive systematic review (2024) · cites this paper as [154]
Self-check
Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.
The self-check needs the paper’s full text.
Cites
Conceptualizing smart city with dimensions of technology, people, and institutions
Nam, T., & Pardo, T. A. (2011) · Annual International Conference on Digital Government Research · doi:10.1145/2037556.2037602 · Cited by 2,885 · see citing works
The real-time city? Big data and smart urbanism
Kitchin, R. (2014) · GeoJournal · doi:10.1007/s10708-013-9516-8 · Cited by 2,794 · see citing works
Understanding Smart Cities: An Integrative Framework
Chourabi, H., Nam, T., Walker, S., Gil-Garcia, J. R., Mellouli, S., Nahon, K., Pardo, T. A., & Scholl, H. J. (2012) · 2012 45th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences · doi:10.1109/hicss.2012.615 · Cited by 2,599 · see citing works
Current trends in Smart City initiatives: Some stylised facts
Neirotti, P., De Marco, A., Cagliano, A. C., Mangano, G., & Scorrano, F. (2014) · Cities · doi:10.1016/j.cities.2013.12.010 · Cited by 2,322 · see citing works
Governing the smart city: a review of the literature on smart urban governance
Meijer, A., & Bolívar, M. P. R. (2016) · International Review of Administrative Sciences · doi:10.1177/0020852314564308 · Cited by 1,797 · see citing works
Smart energy and smart energy systems
Lund, H., Østergaard, P. A., Connolly, D., & Mathiesen, B. V. (2017) · Energy · doi:10.1016/j.energy.2017.05.123 · Cited by 1,157 · see citing works
Smart cities as corporate storytelling
Söderström, O., Paasche, T. F., & Klauser, F. (2014) · City · doi:10.1080/13604813.2014.906716 · Cited by 1,007 · see citing works
Towards an effective framework for building smart cities: Lessons from Seoul and San Francisco
Lee, J. H., Hancock, M. G., & Hu, M. (2013) · Technological Forecasting and Social Change · doi:10.1016/j.techfore.2013.08.033 · Cited by 843 · see citing works
Can cities become smart without being sustainable? A systematic review of the literature
Yiğitcanlar, T., Kamruzzaman, M., Foth, M., Sabatini‐Marques, J., da Costa, E., & Ioppolo, G. (2018) · Sustainable Cities and Society · doi:10.1016/j.scs.2018.11.033 · Cited by 750 · see citing works
An Approach to the Analysis of Political Systems
Easton, D. (1957) · World Politics · doi:10.2307/2008920 · Cited by 742 · see citing works
Appio, F. P., Lima, M., & Paroutis, S. (2018) · Technological Forecasting and Social Change · doi:10.1016/j.techfore.2018.12.018 · Cited by 702 · see citing works
Zygiaris, S. (2012) · Journal of the Knowledge Economy · doi:10.1007/s13132-012-0089-4 · Cited by 681 · see citing works
Gil-García, J. R., Pardo, T. A., & Nam, T. (2015) · Information Polity · doi:10.3233/ip-150354 · Cited by 494 · see citing works
The Smart City as Global Discourse: Storylines and Critical Junctures across 27 Cities
Joss, S., Sengers, F., Schraven, D. F. J., Caprotti, F., & Dayot, Y. (2019) · Journal of Urban Technology · doi:10.1080/10630732.2018.1558387 · Cited by 451 · see citing works
The Role of Smart City Characteristics in the Plans of Fifteen Cities
Angelidou, M. (2017) · Journal of Urban Technology · doi:10.1080/10630732.2017.1348880 · Cited by 419 · see citing works
Mora, L., Deakin, M., & Reid, A. (2018) · Technological Forecasting and Social Change · doi:10.1016/j.techfore.2018.07.035 · Cited by 389 · see citing works
Smart City implementation and discourses: An integrated conceptual model. The case of Vienna
Áñez, M. V. F., Güell, J. M. F., & Giffinger, R. (2017) · Cities · doi:10.1016/j.cities.2017.12.004 · Cited by 362 · see citing works
WHY ARE SMART CITIES GROWING? WHO MOVES AND WHO STAYS*
Winters, J. V. (2010) · Journal of Regional Science · doi:10.1111/j.1467-9787.2010.00693.x · Cited by 340 · see citing works
Backcasting for sustainability: Introduction to the special issue
Vergragt, P. J., & Quist, J. (2011) · Technological Forecasting and Social Change · doi:10.1016/j.techfore.2011.03.010 · Cited by 328 · see citing works
The smart city and its publics: insights from across six UK cities
Cowley, R., Joss, S., & Dayot, Y. (2017) · Urban Research & Practice · doi:10.1080/17535069.2017.1293150 · Cited by 280 · see citing works
Unplugging: Deconstructing the Smart City
Calzada, I., & Cobo, C. (2015) · Journal of Urban Technology · doi:10.1080/10630732.2014.971535 · Cited by 267 · see citing works
Urban experimentation and institutional arrangements
Raven, R. P. J. M., Sengers, F., Späth, P., Xie, L., Cheshmehzangi, A., & de Jong, M. (2017) · European Planning Studies · doi:10.1080/09654313.2017.1393047 · Cited by 255 · see citing works
Smart healthcare monitoring: a voice pathology detection paradigm for smart cities
Hossain, M. S., Muhammad, G., & Alamri, A. M. (2017) · Multimedia Systems · doi:10.1007/s00530-017-0561-x · Cited by 246 · see citing works
How to Build a Sandcastle: An Analysis of the Genesis and Development of Masdar City
Cugurullo, F. (2013) · Journal of Urban Technology · doi:10.1080/10630732.2012.735105 · Cited by 212 · see citing works
Yigitcanlar, T., Han, H., Kamruzzaman, M., Ioppolo, G., & Sabatini-Marques, J. (2019) · Land Use Policy · doi:10.1016/j.landusepol.2019.104187 · Cited by 211 · see citing works
Smart City Pilot Projects: Exploring the Dimensions and Conditions of Scaling Up
van Winden, W., & van den Buuse, D. (2017) · Journal of Urban Technology · doi:10.1080/10630732.2017.1348884 · Cited by 205 · see citing works
Engelbert, J., van Zoonen, L., & Hirzalla, F. (2019) · Technological Forecasting and Social Change · doi:10.1016/j.techfore.2018.08.020 · Cited by 190 · see citing works
Smart Governance: A Roadmap for Research and Practice
Scholl, H. J., & Scholl, M. C. (2014) · iConference · doi:10.9776/14060 · Cited by 187 · see citing works
Data quality assessment in context: A cognitive perspective
Watts, S. A., Shankaranarayanan, G., & Even, A. (2009) · Decision Support Systems · doi:10.1016/j.dss.2009.07.012 · Cited by 171 · see citing works
(Smart) Citizens from Data Providers to Decision-Makers? The Case Study of Barcelona
Calzada, I. (2018) · Sustainability · doi:10.3390/su10093252 · Cited by 171 · see citing works
Smart city as anti-planning in the UK
Cowley, R., & Caprotti, F. (2018) · Environment and Planning D Society and Space · doi:10.1177/0263775818787506 · Cited by 154 · see citing works
Griffiths, S., & Sovacool, B. K. (2019) · Energy Research & Social Science · doi:10.1016/j.erss.2019.101368 · Cited by 149 · see citing works
Sense-Giving and Sense-Reading
Polanyi, M. F. D. (1967) · Philosophy · doi:10.1017/s0031819100001509 · Cited by 147 · see citing works
Meijer, A. J., & Thaens, M. (2016) · Urban Affairs Review · doi:10.1177/1078087416670274 · Cited by 138 · see citing works
Xia, L., Fong, P. S. W., Dai, S., & Li, Y. (2019) · Journal of Cleaner Production · doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2019.01.046 · Cited by 134 · see citing works
Four European Smart City Strategies
Angelidou, M. (2016) · International Journal of Social Science Studies · doi:10.11114/ijsss.v4i4.1364 · Cited by 125 · see citing works
Varieties of systems thinking: The case of soft systems methodology
Checkland, P. B., & Haynes, M. G. (1994) · System Dynamics Review · doi:10.1002/sdr.4260100207 · Cited by 116 · see citing works
Comparing Smart Cities with different modeling approaches
Anthopoulos, L. G., Janssen, M., & Weerakkody, V. (2015) · International World Wide Web Conference (WWW) · doi:10.1145/2740908.2743920 · Cited by 111 · see citing works
Transforming big data into knowledge: the role of knowledge management practice
Chierici, R., Mazzucchelli, A., García-Pérez, A., & Vrontis, D. (2018) · Management Decision · doi:10.1108/md-07-2018-0834 · Cited by 107 · see citing works
Smart Cities Concept: Smart Mobility Indicator
Orłowski, A., & Romanowska, P. (2019) · Cybernetics & Systems · doi:10.1080/01969722.2019.1565120 · Cited by 105 · see citing works
Dameri, R. P. (2014) · Progress in IS · doi:10.1007/978-3-319-06160-3_3 · Cited by 104 · see citing works
‘Smart’ sustainable urban regeneration: Institutions, quality and financial innovation
Huston, S. H., Rahimzad, R., & Parsa, A. (2015) · Cities · doi:10.1016/j.cities.2015.05.005 · Cited by 95 · see citing works
Dameri, R. P., & Benevolo, C. (2015) · Social Science Computer Review · doi:10.1177/0894439315611093 · Cited by 95 · see citing works
Spaces of visibility in the smart city: Flagship urban spaces and the smart urban imaginary
Caprotti, F. (2018) · Urban Studies · doi:10.1177/0042098018798597 · Cited by 83 · see citing works
Smart and Sustainable Planning for Cities and Regions
Bisello, A., Vettorato, D., Laconte, P., et al. (2018) · Green energy and technology · doi:10.1007/978-3-319-75774-2 · Cited by 73 · see citing works
Abbate, T., Césaroni, F., Cinici, M. C., et al. (2018) · Technological Forecasting and Social Change · doi:10.1016/j.techfore.2018.07.031 · Cited by 64 · see citing works
Calzada, I. (2017) · Systems · doi:10.3390/systems5010018 · Cited by 62 · see citing works
The Smart City and its Citizens
Capra, C. F. (2016) · International Journal of E-Planning Research · doi:10.4018/ijepr.2016010102 · Cited by 59 · see citing works
Pattberg, P. H., & Widerberg, O. E. (2014) · SSRN Electronic Journal · doi:10.2139/ssrn.2480302 · Cited by 58 · see citing works
Varieties of smart urbanism in the UK : Discursive logics, the state and local urban context
Caprotti, F., & Cowley, R. (2019) · Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers · doi:10.1111/tran.12284 · Cited by 58 · see citing works
de Jong, M., Hoppe, T., & Noori, N. (2019) · Energies · doi:10.3390/en12091657 · Cited by 58 · see citing works
Self-citationInternational and Comparative Education
Fraser, S. E. (1967) · Review of Educational Research · doi:10.2307/1169860 · Cited by 56 · see citing works
Okai, E., Feng, X., & Sant, P. (2018) · IEEE International Conference on High Performance Computing and Communications; IEEE International Conference on Smart City; IEEE International Conference on Data Science and Systems (HPCC/SmartCity/DSS) · doi:10.1109/hpcc/smartcity/dss.2018.00282 · Cited by 51 · see citing works
Smart city strategies: time to involve people. Comparing Amsterdam, Barcelona and Paris
Mancebo, F. (2019) · Journal of Urbanism International Research on Placemaking and Urban Sustainability · doi:10.1080/17549175.2019.1649711 · Cited by 45 · see citing works
Smart Citizens: Exploring the Tools of the Urban Bottom-Up Movement
Niederer, S., & Priester, R. (2016) · Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW) · doi:10.1007/s10606-016-9249-6 · Cited by 41 · see citing works
The smart city and the containment of informality: The case of Dubai
Breslow, H. (2020) · Urban Studies · doi:10.1177/0042098020903233 · Cited by 40 · see citing works
Crafting Smart Cities in the Gulf Region
Tok, E., McSparren, J. J., Merekhi, M. A., et al. (2015) · Advances in media, entertainment and the arts (AMEA) book series · doi:10.4018/978-1-4666-8205-4.ch020 · Cited by 36 · see citing works
Gil-García, J. R., Pardo, T. A., & Tuya, M. D. (2019) · Urban Affairs Review · doi:10.1177/1078087419843190 · Cited by 35 · see citing works
A Knowledge-Based Conceptual Vision of the Smart City
Negre, E., Rosenthal‐Sabroux, C., & Gascó‐Hernández, M. (2015) · Proceedings of the ... Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences/Proceedings of the Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences · doi:10.1109/hicss.2015.279 · Cited by 34 · see citing works
Barcelona’s Smart City vision: an opportunity for transformation
Ferrer, J.-R. (2017) · OpenEdition (OpenEdition) · Cited by 33 · see citing works
Walnum, H. T., Hauge, Å. L., Lindberg, K. B., et al. (2019) · Sustainable Cities and Society · doi:10.1016/j.scs.2019.01.003 · Cited by 30 · see citing works
SMART CITY PLANNING - DEVELOPING AN URBAN CHARGING INFRASTRUCTURE FOR ELECTRIC VEHICLES
Wagner, S., Brandt, T., & Neumann, D. (2014) · Cited by 28 · see citing works
Are smart cities global cities? A European perspective
Falco, S. D. (2019) · European Planning Studies · doi:10.1080/09654313.2019.1568396 · Cited by 25 · see citing works
Gascó‐Hernández, M., Trivellato, B., & Cavenago, D. (2015) · Public administration and information technology · doi:10.1007/978-3-319-17620-8_10 · Cited by 24 · see citing works
A beginner’s guide to data stewardship and data sharing
Dijkers, M. P. J. M. (2019) · Spinal Cord · doi:10.1038/s41393-018-0232-6 · Cited by 21 · see citing works
The Smart Grid: Anchor of the Smart City
Koutitas, G. C. (2017) · Smart Cities · doi:10.1007/978-3-319-59381-4_4 · Cited by 17 · see citing works
Supporting sustainability through smart infrastructures: the case for the city of Amsterdam
Baron, G., Brinkman, J., & Wenzler, I. (2012) · International Journal of Critical Infrastructures · doi:10.1504/ijcis.2012.049036 · Cited by 14 · see citing works
Dubai: A Pioneer Smart City in the Arabian Territory
Virtudes, A., Abbara, A., & Sá, J. (2017) · IOP Conference Series Materials Science and Engineering · doi:10.1088/1757-899x/245/5/052071 · Cited by 14 · see citing works
Dubai Happiness Agenda: Engineering the Happiest City on Earth
al-Azzawi, A. (2018) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-981-13-2011-8_11 · Cited by 14 · see citing works
Modeling and Optimization: Theory and Applications
Terlaky, T., & Curtis, F. (2012) · Springer proceedings in mathematics & statistics · doi:10.1007/978-1-4614-3924-0 · Cited by 13 · see citing works
Modern leadership and management methods for development organizations
Samosudova, N. (2017) · MATEC Web of Conferences · doi:10.1051/matecconf/201710608062 · Cited by 13 · see citing works
Smart-Governments for Smart Cities: The Case of Dubai Smart-Government
Badran, A. (2018) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-981-13-2011-8_5 · Cited by 10 · see citing works
Calzada, I. (2017) · SSRN Electronic Journal · doi:10.2139/ssrn.2920219 · Cited by 9 · see citing works
Optimum Design Problem Formulation
Arora, J. S. (2004) · Elsevier eBooks · doi:10.1016/b978-012064155-0/50002-1 · Cited by 9 · see citing works
International and Comparative Librarianship: Concepts and Methods for Global Studies
Lor, P. J. (2019) · International Linear Collider · Cited by 8 · see citing works
The Smart City and Its Citizens
Capra, C. F. (2018) · IGI Global eBooks · doi:10.4018/978-1-5225-5646-6.ch015 · Cited by 6 · see citing works
Learning and Sharing Technology in Informal Contexts: A Multiagent-Based Supporting Approach
Borri, D., Camarda, D., & Grassini, L. (2011) · Proceedings/IEEE International Conference on Mobile Data Management · doi:10.1109/mdm.2011.15 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
The Responsive City: Big Data versus Big Government
Hoffman, M. C. (2016) · Public Administration Review · doi:10.1111/puar.12582 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
Cook, K. (2010) · bepress Legal Repository · doi:10.15779/z38qv7n · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
Research works printed but not linked: 4
- Input-Output Modelling for Smart City Development. J. Urban Technol 2020, Author Omitted for Review in press.
- Fistola, R.; La Rocca, R.A. Smart City Planning: A Systemic Approach. In Proceedings of the 6th Knowledge Cities World Summit, Istanbul, Turkey, 9-13 September 2013; pp. 520-530.
- Bayar, D.Y. Smart Citizens: Smart cities from a different point of view. In Proceedings of the Inspire Conference.
- Hemet, D., Townsend, A., Eds.; FutureEverything: Manchester, UK, 2013; pp. 55-58.
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Bibri, S. E., Krogstie, J., Kaboli, A., & Alahi, A. (2024) · Environmental Science and Ecotechnology · doi:10.1016/j.ese.2023.100330 · Cited by 536 · see citing works
Bibri, S. E., & Krogstie, J. (2020) · Energy Informatics · doi:10.1186/s42162-020-00130-8 · Cited by 224 · see citing works
Faculty of Economics and Management Science, D. O. M. S., Moses, A., J. B., T., & Faculty of Economics and Management Science, D. O. M. S. (2023) · International Journal of Current Science Research and Review · doi:10.47191/ijcsrr/v6-i1-68 · Cited by 6 · see citing works
“Government-funded initiatives must be made sustainable through the involvement of project beneficiaries, and those facilitating and participating in the process must commit a significant amount of time and money Noori, et al (26).”
Background
- Authors
- Noori, N., Hoppe, T., & de Jong, M.
- Affiliations
- Erasmus University Rotterdam (NL)
- Delft University of Technology (NL)
- Erasmus School of Law and Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Rotterdam, 3000 DR Rotterdam, The Netherlands
- Corresponding author
- Hoppe, Thomas
- ORCID
- Hoppe, Thomas
- Venue
- Sustainability
- Publisher
- MDPI AG
- Published
- 2020-05-14
- Volume
- 12
- Issue
- 10
- Pages
- 4030
- ISSN
- 2071-1050 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W3024439515
- Cited by
- 130
- References
- 79
- Citations by year
- 2026: 10 · 2025: 17 · 2024: 29 · 2023: 26 · 2022: 23 · 2021: 19 · 2020: 6
- FWCI
- 9.52
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- dx.doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Sustainability (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- EUR Research Repository (Erasmus University Rotterdam) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- EUR Research Repository (Erasmus University Rotterdam) (submittedVersion)
- RePub (Erasmus University Rotterdam) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Research Repository (Delft University of Technology) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Data Archiving and Networked Services (DANS) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Media Technology › Smart Cities and Technologies
- Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Management of Technology and Innovation › Innovative Approaches in Technology and Social Development
- Social Sciences › Urban Studies › Urban Planning and Governance
- Keywords
- smart city development, smart city governance, smart city design, smart city policy, Internet of Things, input-output model, technological optimism, social inclusion, visionary leadership, Masdar City, cross-city comparison
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
