Product Service System Innovation in the Smart City

Product service systems (PSS) may usefully form part of the mix of innovations necessary to move society toward more sustainable futures. However, despite such potential, PSS implementation is highly uneven and limited. Drawing on an alternate socio-technical perspective of innovation, this paper provides fresh insights, on among other things the role of context in PSS innovation, to address this issue. Case study research is presented focusing on a use orientated PSS in an urban environment: the Copenhagen city bike scheme. The paper shows that PSS innovation is a situated complex process, shaped by actors and knowledge from other locales. It argues that further research is needed to investigate how actors interests shape PSS innovation. It recommends that institutional spaces should be provided in governance landscapes associated with urban environments to enable legitimate PSS concepts to co-evolve in light of locally articulated sustainability principles and priorities

Data driven approaches for smart city planning and design: a case scenario on urban data management

Purpose Because of the use of digital technologies in smart cities, municipalities are increasingly facing issues related to urban data management and are seeking ways to exploit these huge amounts of data for the actualization of data driven services. However, only few studies discuss challenges related to data driven strategies in smart cities. Accordingly, the purpose of this study is to present data driven approaches (architecture and model), for urban data management needed to improve smart city planning and design. The developed approaches depict how data can underpin sustainable urban development. Design/methodology/approach Design science research is adopted following a qualitative method to evaluate the architecture developed based on top-level design using a case data from workshops and interviews with experts involved in a smart city project. Findings The findings of this study from the evaluations indicate that the identified enablers are useful to support data driven services in smart cities and the developed architecture can be used to promote urban data management. More importantly, findings from this study provide guidelines to municipalities to improve data driven services for smart city planning and design. Research limitations/implications Feedback as qualitative data from practitioners provided evidence on how data driven strategies can be achieved in smart cities. However, the model is not validated. Hence, quantitative data is needed to further validate the enablers that influence data driven services in smart city planning and design. Practical implications Findings from this study offer practical insights and real-life evidence to define data driven enablers in smart cities and suggest research propositions for future studies. Additionally, this study develops a real conceptualization of data driven method for municipalities to foster open data and digital service innovation for smart city development. Social implications The main findings of this study suggest that data governance, interoperability, data security and risk assessment influence data driven services in smart cities. This study derives propositions based on the developed model that identifies enablers for actualization of data driven services for smart cities planning and design. Originality/value This study explores the enablers of data driven strategies in smart city and further developed an architecture and model that can be adopted by municipalities to structure their urban data initiatives for improving data driven services to make cities smarter. The developed model supports municipalities to manage data used from different sources to support the design of data driven services provided by different enterprises that collaborate in urban environment.acceptedVersio

The smart city as mobile policy: Insights on contemporary urbanism

Under embargo until: 2021-12-19What can the smart city discourse tell us about contemporary urbanism? This discourse is arguably a key exemplar of the increasingly mobile and networked characteristic of urban policy-making, and can reveal important insights into the policy processes currently shaping cities. For that purpose, this paper empirically examines smart city networks funded by the European Union, in particular three so-called ‘Lighthouse cities’ for smart city development – Nottingham, Stavanger and Stockholm – and their contested local implementation. On the basis of these cases, we highlight three characteristics that emerge when smart city policies are made mobile: glossiness, fragmentation and randomness. We propose that with intensifying policy mobility these qualities may be increasingly important features of contemporary urban policy-making, that condition possibilities to govern cities in response to critical urban challenges.acceptedVersio

The Smart City Concept for Sustainable Development of a Tourist Destination

Purpose – At a time of exceptionally fast technological advancement, smart cities have become necessary for the better management of existing resources in a tourist destination. The aim of this paper is to investigate if the smart city concept has been recognized in micro destinations in the Kvarner region for the purpose of sustainability and raising residents’ quality of life. Design/Methodology – The research has been conducted in the Kvarner tourist destination in December 2019. Citizens were asked their opinions within the scope of the following narrow tourist destinations – Lovran, Opatija and Rijeka. The questionnaire used closed-ended questions. This short research focuses on public perception regarding the smart city concept. Findings – The results show that 67% of the people living in tourist destinations are not familiar with the smart city concept. Most, however, state that its implementation would improve the touristic development of the destinations. The development of smart destinations leaves plenty of room for each community undertaking that step to define the shape and functionality of its environment while respecting the community’s historical, cultural-artistic and social heritage. Originality of the research – There are many papers dealing with the topic of smart cities, but it is rare for authors to explore the transformation of traditional tourist destinations into contemporary sustainable communities. The obtained results can be used to inform policy making towards becoming more proactive, smart and sustainable

A proposal and potential use-case for the transition from Gig City to Smart City

Over the past decade, smart city concepts have been gaining attention from scholars, practitioners, and policy-makers in both developed and developing nations. A recent proliferation of publications has involved a multitude of disciplines, but have focused almost entirely on the potential for smart cities to change the way cities are managed, operated, and planned. However, there has been little published on the tangible benefits of a specific smart city initiative, nor many use-case studies following smart city initiatives. This paper aims to propose a transition from Gig City to smart city via technological advancement in the form of ICT to monitor, assess, and improve one of Chattanooga\u27s most inefficient urban systems – the city curbside garbage and recycling services. The findings and projections produce implications for city planners and managers, as well as, academics and policy-makers focused on improving urban functions and systems and making urban lifestyles more sustainable

The Origin and Implementation of the Smart-Sustainable City Concept: The Case of Malmö, Sweden

The concept of a smart-sustainable city (SSC) has recently come to dominate urban sustainability political agendas and academic discourses in Europe. This thesis investigates (1) the origination of the SSC concept, (2) how it is being framed as an approach to sustainable urban development, and (3) how it can be contextualized in concrete projects and urban planning initiatives in the city of Malmö, Sweden. The SSC is founded on the convergence of several prevailing international trends: the devolution of international environmental governance to the local level; the increasing use of information and communication technologies (ICT) in urban planning and development; and the decentralization of economic policymaking to municipal governments. As a strategic approach to sustainable development, an SSC is one that promotes the use of ICT and collaborative public-private partnerships as the primary means of balancing green economic growth with low carbon, sustainable development. This concept is founded on the significant potential of ICT to promote energy and resource efficiency in urban services and systems and to drive behavioral changes as citizens make more data-informed decisions about their lifestyle and consumption patterns. Proponents argue that more collaborative partnerships in cities foster coordination, innovation and attract necessary resources to help cities address complex sustainability problems. While the SSC concept has been criticized by some social science researchers for its overemphasis on technology and for reframing urban sustainability challenges as market opportunities for private companies and corporations, the case of Malmö reveals a more positive outlook. The Malmö example shows that ideas and strategies inherent within the SSC concept can successfully create technologically and ecologically advanced neighborhoods, but also risk excluding parts of the city and its population from accessing any benefits created. While the SSC concept is not without its faults, contradictions and hyperbole, this thesis concludes that the SSC model for sustainable development can offer opportunities to engage a diversity of actors in finding solutions to a city’s most pressing and complex sustainability challenges