Smart City Related Policies and Implementation

A special issue of Smart Cities (ISSN 2624-6511).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 October 2022) | Viewed by 24658

Special Issue Editors

Department of Architecture, Faculty of Engineering, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, UK
Interests: facilities management; community resilience; sociotechnical systems dynamics; constructability and dependability analysis; digital twins; decision intelligence; intelligent built environment
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Guest Editor
Department of Industrial Engineering, University of Naples Federico II, Napoli, Italy
Interests: efficiency and productivity analysis; technology and innovation economics; utilities and infrastructure economics; project economics and evaluation; environmental and resource economics
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Practices on policies relating to smart city development have accumulated a vast amount of knowledge in STEEP (social, technical, economic, environmental and political) areas in the past three decades. This body of knowledge is valuable to inform research and practices with long-term effects. Through learning from many cases about the efficacy of policies at various levels in smart city development around the world, the necessity is shown for both technical reviews and theoretical studies to focus on smart-city-related policies and implementation, as well as to support evidence-based theory development and practices in related areas in the future.

The purpose of this Special Issue is to show the latest research in policy-related areas in the context of smart cities. The topics of interest for this Special Issue include, but are not limited to:

  • Community health and wellbeing.
  • Community adaptation and resilience.
  • Evidence-based practice on policies.
  • Impact of policies in smart-city-related practices.
  • Interactions among policies and/or regulations.
  • Interactions among social–ecological–technical (SET) issues and/or systems.
  • Knowledge management in policymaking.
  • Legal and political philosophy.
  • Policy challenges and enhancement.
  • Policy-led practices.
  • Policymaking theories and practices.
  • Public policies and engagement.
  • Stakeholders’ needs and analysis.
  • STEEP (social, technical, economic, environmental and political) issues and solutions.
  • Strategies, tactics and operations in smart city development.
  • Technical policy for smart city development.
  • Technical review of policies and implementation.
  • Urban and regional policy.

Dr. Zhen Chen
Prof. Dr. Corrado lo Storto
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Smart Cities is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2000 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • Convergence research
  • Corporate management
  • Economic policy
  • Energy policy
  • Engineering policy
  • Environmental resilience
  • Governance approaches and models
  • Infrastructure policy
  • Performance indicators
  • Policymaking
  • Private–public collaboration
  • Public policy
  • Public services
  • Resource efficiency
  • Smart cities
  • Social inclusion and equity
  • Sustainability
  • Technology policy
  • Transformation and change management
  • Urban planning
  • Urban development
  • Urban governance
  • Urban management

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Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

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10 pages, 720 KiB  
Article
Key Factors for Assessing Small and Rural Municipalities’ Readiness for Smart City Implementation
by Nkhangweni Lawrence Mashau, Jan Hendrik Kroeze and Grant Royd Howard
Smart Cities 2022, 5(4), 1742-1751; https://doi.org/10.3390/smartcities5040087 - 2 Dec 2022
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 3609
Abstract
The concept of a ‘smart city’ is now commonly used to describe the use of various digital and other technologies, to collect data to provide information that can be used to manage resources efficiently and provide a better standard of living for the [...] Read more.
The concept of a ‘smart city’ is now commonly used to describe the use of various digital and other technologies, to collect data to provide information that can be used to manage resources efficiently and provide a better standard of living for the citizens. Small and rural municipalities in developing countries face growing challenges in managing their resources, to provide basic services such as housing, education, transport, health, water and electricity to the citizens. This research is aimed at identifying key factors that could assist small and rural municipalities to assess their readiness for smart city implementation. A systematic literature review methodology was employed to provide an exhaustive summary of substantiated research relevant to the research aim and to synthesize key factors that are crucial to assess small and rural municipalities’ readiness. This study was conducted between January and July 2022. As a contribution, this study identified and synthesized key factors to be addressed when determining a municipality’s readiness to become a smart city. Through the use of ATLAS.ti to analyze the data, the study identifies the following key factors: infrastructure, the environment, skills, innovation, technology, the economy, citizens, culture, finance, the public sector, private organizations, data, management, policies, internet connectivity, education and energy. Advancing these key elements should also help small and rural municipalities, who are not yet ready to actuate a smart city, to prepare for such an endeavor, in order to address service delivery issues, the economy and the quality of life of their citizens. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Smart City Related Policies and Implementation)
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20 pages, 377 KiB  
Article
Disentangling Housing Supply to Shift towards Smart Cities: Analysing Theoretical and Empirical Studies
by Pedro Garcês, Cesaltina Pacheco Pires, Joana Costa, Sílvia Ferreira Jorge, Margarida Catalão-Lopes and Adriana Alventosa
Smart Cities 2022, 5(4), 1488-1507; https://doi.org/10.3390/smartcities5040076 - 27 Oct 2022
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2865
Abstract
The search for a pleasant home has concerned people ever since. Paradoxically, people are facing strong difficulties in finding a decent place to settle their lives in cities. As such, the housing market regained momentum in connection with the development of Smart Cities, [...] Read more.
The search for a pleasant home has concerned people ever since. Paradoxically, people are facing strong difficulties in finding a decent place to settle their lives in cities. As such, the housing market regained momentum in connection with the development of Smart Cities, where life quality of residents is strongly emphasized. Well-being in the metropolis is affected by a wide variety of factors with housing supply being among the most important, hence stirred by financing costs, construction costs, vacancy rate, sales delay, inflation rate, housing stock, price of agricultural land, and regulation. The present article reviews empirical studies on housing supply for a better understanding of the dynamics in this market, shedding some light on the expectable outcomes of policy actions in the promotion of sustainable housing towards the smart city transition. Our review shows that the long-run price elasticity of housing supply is larger than the short-run, as well as the existence of substantial differences in the price elasticity across countries and regions. As such, overall, the hypothesis of a perfectly elastic supply is rejected. In addition, our review highlights that housing supply is negatively related to financial costs, inflation, sales delay, and the existence of regulatory or physical constraints. Also, the elasticity is lower when there are regulatory constraints. Newfangled strategic interaction models, though overlooked in the literature, reinforce that housing does not fit the perfect competition frame. The review proves that we are in face of a non-competitive market in which policy intervention is required to maximize social welfare; policy packages to grant people access to the housing market may be required. However, policy interventions should be carefully designed and clear, to mitigate their potentially negative impact on the housing supply as adverse results may be harmful to the transition towards a smart city. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Smart City Related Policies and Implementation)
13 pages, 4701 KiB  
Article
Living Lab Participants’ Knowledge Change about Inclusive Smart Cities: An Urban Living Lab in Seongdaegol, Seoul, South Korea
by Jooho Park and Sayaka Fujii
Smart Cities 2022, 5(4), 1376-1388; https://doi.org/10.3390/smartcities5040070 - 14 Oct 2022
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2919
Abstract
The emergence of smart cities has illuminated positive expectations, such as the solving of urban problems through information and communications technology (ICT). Behind the spotlight of the smart city, not everybody is enjoying the smart infrastructure owing to knowledge gaps such as the [...] Read more.
The emergence of smart cities has illuminated positive expectations, such as the solving of urban problems through information and communications technology (ICT). Behind the spotlight of the smart city, not everybody is enjoying the smart infrastructure owing to knowledge gaps such as the digital divide. Living labs provide a new platform for smart cities that can prevent the failure of urban development. They give citizens a better understanding of how to adapt to life in a smart city, enabling the development of smart cities that are more likely to succeed through a participatory approach. In this way, the competencies of participants may affect the success of a living lab. Nevertheless, there is a lack of research on improving participants’ knowledge through living labs. This study aims to examine how participation in an urban living lab influences the knowledge level of photovoltaic power generation and to identify the influencing factors. Our empirical study shows that the knowledge level of solar power technology improved through participation in a living lab. Additionally, the results indicate that the types of activity programs in the living lab were not associated with knowledge acquisition. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Smart City Related Policies and Implementation)
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24 pages, 3306 KiB  
Article
Integration of SETS (Social–Ecological–Technological Systems) Framework and Flood Resilience Cycle for Smart Flood Risk Management
by Ariyaningsih and Rajib Shaw
Smart Cities 2022, 5(4), 1312-1335; https://doi.org/10.3390/smartcities5040067 - 30 Sep 2022
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 4092
Abstract
The concept of “water smart city” is increasingly being recognized as a new approach to managing urban environments (including urban floods), especially in the context of developing countries, such as Indonesia. While Indonesia’s national capital relocation plan is expected to attract significant human [...] Read more.
The concept of “water smart city” is increasingly being recognized as a new approach to managing urban environments (including urban floods), especially in the context of developing countries, such as Indonesia. While Indonesia’s national capital relocation plan is expected to attract significant human migration to two nearby cities, Samarinda City and the port city of Balikpapan, these cities have continuously faced with severe risk of flooding. Therefore, this research proposes a flood management approach by reviewing the local city government’s flood risk management strategies and the smart city plan to enhance flood resilience. The integration of the SETS (Social–Ecological–Technological systems) framework and the Flood Resilience Cycle is undertaken to determine the state of flood management, which is followed by a review of smart city plans and programs in two selected cities (Samarinda and Balikpapan). The research mainly identifies how it can be implemented in the two selected cities based on SETS–FRC distribution. In accordance with the SETS–FRC (Flood Resilience Cycle) framework, it is revealed that both these cities have a higher emphasis on the flood prevention phase, as compared to other resilience phases. Based on the overall results, this study emphasizes the implementation of a water smart city concept for effective and smart flood risk management. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Smart City Related Policies and Implementation)
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Review

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23 pages, 2482 KiB  
Review
A Review on Significant Factors Causing Delays in Saudi Arabia Construction Projects
by Abdulali Mohammed Alajmi and Zubair Ahmed Memon
Smart Cities 2022, 5(4), 1465-1487; https://doi.org/10.3390/smartcities5040075 - 21 Oct 2022
Cited by 16 | Viewed by 10077
Abstract
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) is suffering major delays in construction projects. Because the construction business in Saudi Arabia has changed dramatically over the last three decades, it is crucial to conduct a thorough study into the reasons for delays and to [...] Read more.
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) is suffering major delays in construction projects. Because the construction business in Saudi Arabia has changed dramatically over the last three decades, it is crucial to conduct a thorough study into the reasons for delays and to get industry experts on the same page. In this paper, an overview of the construction sector generally and the Saudi Arabian construction industry has been presented. Based on the literature review the major causes, as well as effects of the delays caused in the construction industry, have been identified. Some of the common causes identified are incorrect planning, administration problems, difficulties in financing, lack of experienced staff, and poor communication. It is advised that the major actors in the construction sector employ the proper tactics to implement preventative measures to lessen the consequences when carrying out construction projects. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Smart City Related Policies and Implementation)
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