This volume provides the most current research on smart cities. Specifically it focuses on the
economic development and sustainability of smart cities and examines how to transform older
industrial cities into sustainable smart cities. It aims to identify the role of the following
elements in the creation and management of smart cities:¿ Citizen participation and empowerment
¿ Value creation mechanisms ¿ Public administration¿ Quality of life and sustainability¿
Democracy¿ ICT¿ Private initiatives and entrepreneurshipRegardless of their size all cities
are ultimately agglomerations of people and institutions. Agglomeration economies make it
possible to attain minimum efficiencies of scale in the organization and delivery of services.
However the economic benefits do not constitute the main advantage of a city. A city¿s status
rests on three dimensions: (1) political impetus which is the result of citizens¿
participation and the public administration¿s agenda (2) applications derived from
technological advances (especially in ICT) and (3) cooperation between public and private
initiatives in business development and entrepreneurship. These three dimensions determine
which resources are necessary to create smart cities. But a smart city ideal in the way it
channels and resolves technological social and economic-growth issues requires many
additional elements to function at a high-performance level such as culture (an environment
that empowers and engages citizens) and physical infrastructure designed to foster competition
and collaboration encourage new ideas and actions and set the stage for new business
creation. Featuring contributions with models tools and cases from around the world this book
will be a valuable resource for researchers students academics professionals and
policymakers interested in smart cities.
