Key Factors of Effective Development of Smart Cities in Croatia

World trends are showing a continuous increase in the number of inhabitants living in cities. It is expected that 70% of total world and 80% of total European population will live in cities by 2050. By increasing the number of inhabitants, the challenges of city management are growing as well. With the aim of achieving maximum living standards and quality of life of their inhabitants, the implementation of smart city model proves to be a necessity. The Republic of Croatia, as a member of the European Union, is obliged to follow recommendations contained in a series of documents and conclusions, as well as use the sources of funding available to European member states. The paper provides a framework for understanding the concept of smart cities through an overview of scientific literature, examples of good practice from Europe and the world, and a detailed analysis of the state and degree of development of smart cities in the Republic of Croatia, focusing on key dimensions of smart city development. It has been proven that investing in key dimensions of a smart city: Population, technology, and institutions, generates revenue growth, economic development, and better living quality of city population. The research methodology for this paper is based on a mixed method that involves collection, analysis, and integration of quantitative and qualitative research. The aim of the paper is to provide a framework for understanding the concept of a smart city, point out the advantages of such management mode, as well as the key dimensions to be invested in, in order to boost economic development and quality of life of the dominant, city population

Managing creative industries in the context of knowledge-based urban development

The advent of the knowledge economy has put the focus on innovation, creativity and networks as drivers of competitiveness and economic growth. This has shifted development perspectives from tangibles-based competitiveness to knowledge-driven competitiveness transforming the way the economy is organised and putting emphasis on the emergence of a new type of capital. Creative industries represent a form of capital that provides economic benefits and the links between creative capital, quality of life and competitiveness has made the creative industries a serious economic factor that needs to be considered in regard to cities and regions viability. The two issues, creative industries and knowledge-based urban development (KBUD) remain not only challenging fields of research but also the key elements for discussions on the competitiveness of cities and regions. The purpose of this paper is to explore the ‘creative industry’ concept to relate it to the ongoing process of creating knowledge-based urban developments.publishersversionpublishe

CULTURAL HERITAGE AND IMAGES OF THE CITY: TRANSFORMATION OF SAWAHLUNTO IN INDONESIA

In order to be acknowledged as a World Heritage Centre by UNESCO in 2016, the city government transformed Sawahlunto, which used to be an old mining city, into what the government claimed as a culturally touristic mining city. The city had basically been declared as a dead city; however, the government has strategically increased its economics through tourism. This article focuses on the meaning-making process in the construction of the city image(s) basing the process in the discussion of the politics of collective memory and cultural heritage. Data, mainly findings from observations, interviews and textual analysis, were collected from two tourism sites namely Goedang Ransoem Museum and Lubang Tambang Mbah Soero. The aim of the research is to interpret how the people in Sawahlunto make sense of the image construction of the city or even contest it as the government conveyed particular meaning in redefining the city‟s identity. Abidin Kusno‟s conceptualization of collective memory in architecture is mainly used to analyze the architectural elements of the two tourism sites. Furthermore, the analysis also refers to Hobsbawn and Thompson‟s notion of cultural heritage and Leif Edvinson‟s images of the city. Research findings reveal that the city government constructs a dominant meaning of what they convey as cultural heritage by utilizing local laws and the authority from other regions which have more experiences in transforming their city into a city of cultural heritage. On the other hand, the people in Sawahlunto have their own understanding of what their city means for them in relation to their own cultural heritage. All in all, the complexity of the meaning-makitng process in the city‟s transformation between the government and the people could be read as a battleground of contesting discourses

Consumers’ Willingness to Pay (WTP) for Organically Farmed Fish in Bangladesh

This study aims to assess the market potential for organically farmed shrimp. The rank-ordered logit model was employed to investigate consumer perceptions; the findings reveal that consumers prefer organic shrimp from mariculture, and inland-farmed shrimp to the coastal version. The willingness to pay (WTP) for conventional shrimp amongst consumers with low knowledge is less than that for organic shrimp amongst highly knowledgeable ones. In addition, the lower WTP for organic shrimp compared with safe shrimp amongst those with a medium knowledge level shows that the organically farmed shrimp market is lagging behind due to limited knowledge and confusion

Una aproximación a la evaluación del imaginario del turismo en las ciudades del conocimiento

The study asserts the image of urban tourism that develops in the cities where the maineconomic activity tends to be generating and applicating knowledge.The articledescribes the type of knowledge encountered in the city, identifying the relevantelements of the urban dynamics. The case study is Monterrey in Mexico where thefocus is specifically on the urban and pop performances and strategies for developingtourism activities, the "Project of Saint Lucia - Urban Integration". The article focuseson two methods. First contemplative observation about the site and its urbanenvironment, then structured interviews with the users of this public space. The articleidentifies morphological elements that make up the image of Monterrey, whichcontrast the basic idea of Monterrey

PRIMJENA WEB API-ja KOD SMART CITY RJEŠENJA : DIPLOMSKI RAD

U svijetu gdje je sve povezano, razvoj Smart City rješenja postaje neizbježan. Građani teže lakšem i jednostavnijem životu te od mjesta u kojima žive očekuju da im taj život olakšavaju i bude potpora, stoga dolazi do ubrzanog razvoja takvih rješenja. Međutim, takvi projekti su iznimno kompleksni i teško održivi te jedno od glavnih pitanja koje se nameće je povezivost takvih rješenja te dijeljenje i korištenje podataka koje ono stvara. Jedno od očitih i najpredlagavanije solucije za taj problem je korištenje i otvaranje Web API-ja. U ovom radu opisuju se prednosti korištenja API-ja kod Smart City rješenja te daju primjeri uspješnih praksi. Na kraju se provodi istraživanje s dvije skupine ispitanika, s korisnicima i programerima. S potencijalnim korisnicima se provodi anketa kako bi se saznale njihove preferencije i karakteristike kod Smart City rješenja, dok s programerima se provodi intervju gdje se žele saznati njihovo gledište na razvoj Smart City rješenja i bitna karakteristikeIn a world where everything is connect, the development of Smart Cities becomes inevitable. Citizens tend to easier and simpler life and expect from their living surrounding to be the support for that, so there is a rapid increase of Smart City solutions. However, those projects are complex and hardly sustainable, and the main problem that emerges is the connectivity of those solutions and usage of data that it creates. One of the obvious and most proposed solution is usage of Web APIs. In this paper the advantages of using Web APIs in Smart City solutions are described and examples of already done solutions are listed. In the end, a research is conducted with two groups, users and developers. A survey is carried out with the potential users to find out their preferences and characteristics of Smart City solutions, while on the other hand, an interview is conducted with developers to find out their thoughts on development of Smart City soltuions and important characteristics

Four European Smart City Strategies

This paper provides evidence-based policy recommendations about the development of smart cities. The core characteristics of smart cities, including the use of advanced technology, human and social capital development, the development of pro-business environments and networking, are ‘translated’ into individual domains that characterize smart city strategies. Four major European cities (Amsterdam, Barcelona, London and Stockholm) are examined in terms of how they have so far incorporated those domains in their ongoing smart city strategies. The data are analyzed comparatively, highlighting trends and contrasting differences among strategies. The paper closes with conclusions about those characteristics and their role in smart city policy making

Informális tudásmegosztás. A munkahelyi pletyka

A tudásmegosztás problémája a tudásmenedzsment-rendszerek kutatásának kezdeti fázisától számtalan vizsgálatnak adott teret. A tudásmegosztás eszközeinek sokszínűsége elsősorban a formális megosztási lehetőségek területén indukált kutatásokat, ugyanakkor kevesebb figyelem jut az informális tudásmegosztás módszereinek. A kutatás célja kideríteni, milyen mértékben jellemző az informális tudásmegosztás egy kevéssé kutatott formájának – nevezetesen a munkahelyi pletyka – használata szervezeti keretek között, és milyen hatásával kell számolni a szervezeti folyamatokban. A kutatás során a szerzők egy kiinduló modellt állítottak fel az informális tudás/információátadás folyamatának lekövetésére, melynek érvényességét teszteli a vizsgálat kvantitatív formában, kérdőíves lekérdezés segítségével, 310 válaszadó bevonásával. Az értékelés SPSS programmal (érintettségi index, regressziós modell) történt. Az eredmények azt mutatják, hogy a pletyka minden esetben jelen van, különböző intenzitással, függetlenül a személyes és szervezeti jellemzőktől. Hatása negatív módon érinti a szervezeti kultúrát, a csapatmunkát, a dolgozói karriert. A hamis információk különösen a kommunikációt, a csapatmunkát és a szervezeti teljesítményt befolyásolják

A conceptual model of smart city development for King Hussein Business Park (KHBP), Amman, Jordan based on grounded theory

Smart city concept employs information technology (IT) in addressing challenges related to sustainable growth. The smart city considers issues of over population, infrastructure deficit, economic growth, and technology adoption, and then incorporates IT-based solutions in the urban construction, planning, and services delivery. Currently, Amman in Jordan is experiencing a speedy expansion in population with several potential threats on sustainability due to increased pollution from industries, deficit in infrastructure, and insecurity. These issues resulted in the idea of evolving KHBP into a smart city to accommodate modern development in a sustainable manner. While a number of studies assessed smart city models that are not comprehensive due to lack of engagement of all stakeholders (residents and the private sector) in the process of developing the models, the models also focused only on analysing the conceptual connotations or applications in specific domains that suffers from lack of replicability. These issues have led to significant barriers for individual smart projects especially considering the dynamic nature of regions and economic disparity. In complementing the limitations in existing models, this study incorporated several perspectives in developing a new smart city model for KHBP. The qualitative design was used for this study based on Grounded Theory methods. The participants comprised various stakeholders in KHBP including the government, private sectors, residents, and business owners/managers. Findings revealed six significant factors in the KHBP smart city model. These category included accelerating economic growth, evolving security, improving the environment, developing human capital, empowering ruling management, and strengthening infrastructure. This framework will further help to integrate the need of multiple stakeholders, including the government, private sectors, residents, and businesses. Finally, the implementation of KHBP smart city model based on this framework was discussed. The applications of this framework can effectively eliminate barriers to sustainable growth of KHBP in Jordan. It also overcomes barriers to implementing smart city models relating to data from various stakeholders, especially the private sector thus avoiding redundant financial investments

Scrutinizing the Smart City Index: a multivariate statistical approach

Koncept pametnog grada često se obrađuje, ali još nije postignuta konzistentna definicija. Ipak, svaki je opis gotovo uvijek usmjeren na njegovu tehnološku komponentu, politike održivog razvoja i omogućavanje visokih kapaciteta za učenje i inovacije. Osim toga, pametni grad ima za cilj povezivanje ljudi, informacija i drugih gradskih elemenata koristeći najsuvremenije tehnologije. Kao rezultat, stvara se održivi, zeleniji grad, potiče konkurentna i inovativna trgovina i povećava opća kvaliteta života.Integriranim prikazom pametnog grada ističe se da ne djeluje izolirano, te stoga, svaki podsustav grada treba razvijati svoju pametnu komponentu. Širok raspon rangiranja koristi se za određivanje pametnosti gradova mapiranjem prednosti i nedostataka svakog analiziranog grada. Kao način integriranja različitih pokazatelja u jednu vrijednost koja će predstavljati rang, najčešće se koristi složeni indeksni pristup.Ipak, složeni indeksi najčešće se formiraju primjenom pristupa jednakih pondera, što se u trenutnoj literaturi žestoko kritizira. U ovom radu pokušavamo pružiti dodanu vrijednost indeksu Smart City primjenom statističkog post-hoc I-distance pristupa. Postupak nam omogućuje osvjetljavanje pitanja osjetljivosti ranga gradova. Primjena post-hoc I-distance definira pokazatelje koji su najvažniji za postupak rangiranja što gradskim donositeljima odluka omogućava da poboljšaju svoje poslovanje, s naglaskom na upravo te pokazatelje.The smart city represents a frequently elaborated concept which however comes short in delivering a consistent definition. Nevertheless, almost every description has always been oriented to its technological component, sustainable development policies, and enabling high capacities for learning and innovation. Moreover, the smart city aims at connecting people, information and other city elements using state-of-the-art technologies. As a result, it creates a sustainable, greener city, pushes forward competitive and innovative commerce, and increases overall life quality. The integrated view of a smart city underlines it does not operate in isolation, which is why every subsystem of a city needs to develop its smart component. A wide range of rankings is used to determine the smartness of cities by mapping out the pros and cons of each analysed city. As the way to integrate various indicators into one value which will represent the rank, a composite index approach is most frequently used. Still, composite indexes are usually formed using the equal weight approach, which is heavily criticised in current literature. In this paper, we try to provide added value to the Smart City Index by implementing the statistical post hoc I-distance approach. The procedure enables us to shed some additional light on the issue of sensitivity of cities’ rank. The application of post hoc I-distance defines indicators which are most significant for the ranking process. It consequently empowers city decision-makers to improve their performance, with a focus on those particular indicators