IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/tvecsg/v112y2021i5p549-565.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Searching for a Smart City: A Bibliographic Analysis of ‘Public Facing’ EU Smart City Projects

Author

Listed:
  • Alan Collins
  • Adam Cox
  • Gianpiero Torrisi

Abstract

The narrative used to describe smart cities, including the experimentation on them, affects the perception of the smart city. This study systematically assembles and analyses ‘public facing’ smart city project data from across the EU. Using a bibliographic analysis, including word frequency analyses across time and countries of project descriptions, we identify the dominant themes and constructs in the smart city narratives used by teams advancing smart city projects. The study highlights spatial and intertemporal variations in locational density, differing project content and the range of conceptual emphases. Results show that the main concern of smart city narratives in the EU is firmly centred on energy. We argue that policy‐makers should aim for better alignment of smart cities' narrative with citizens' perception or, at least, a wider description of the very nature of implemented projects to include those rather neglected aspects might attract more interest and citizens' involvement.

Suggested Citation

  • Alan Collins & Adam Cox & Gianpiero Torrisi, 2021. "Searching for a Smart City: A Bibliographic Analysis of ‘Public Facing’ EU Smart City Projects," Tijdschrift voor Economische en Sociale Geografie, Royal Dutch Geographical Society KNAG, vol. 112(5), pages 549-565, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:tvecsg:v:112:y:2021:i:5:p:549-565
    DOI: 10.1111/tesg.12476
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/tesg.12476
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/tesg.12476?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Fu, Shihe, 2007. "Smart Cafe Cities: Testing human capital externalities in the Boston metropolitan area," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 61(1), pages 86-111, January.
    2. Amy Glasmeier & Susan Christopherson, 2015. "Thinking about smart cities," Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 8(1), pages 3-12.
    3. Robert G. Hollands, 2015. "Critical interventions into the corporate smart city," Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 8(1), pages 61-77.
    4. Robert G. Hollands, 2008. "Will the real smart city please stand up?," City, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 12(3), pages 303-320, December.
    5. Alyson Nicholds & John Gibney & Chris Mabey & Dan Hart, 2017. "Making sense of variety in place leadership: the case of England’s smart cities," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 51(2), pages 249-259, February.
    6. Ismagilova, Elvira & Hughes, Laurie & Dwivedi, Yogesh K. & Raman, K. Ravi, 2019. "Smart cities: Advances in research—An information systems perspective," International Journal of Information Management, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 88-100.
    7. Paolo Cardullo & Rob Kitchin, 2019. "Smart urbanism and smart citizenship: The neoliberal logic of ‘citizen-focused’ smart cities in Europe," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 37(5), pages 813-830, August.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Constance Carr & Markus Hesse, 2020. "When Alphabet Inc. Plans Toronto’s Waterfront: New Post-Political Modes of Urban Governance," Urban Planning, Cogitatio Press, vol. 5(1), pages 69-83.
    2. Kummitha, Rama Krishna Reddy & Crutzen, Nathalie, 2019. "Smart cities and the citizen-driven internet of things: A qualitative inquiry into an emerging smart city," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 140(C), pages 44-53.
    3. Małgorzata Baran & Monika Kłos & Monika Chodorek & Karolina Marchlewska-Patyk, 2022. "The Resilient Smart City Model–Proposal for Polish Cities," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(5), pages 1-23, March.
    4. Solis, Miriam & Bashar, Samira Binte, 2022. "Social equity implications of advanced water metering infrastructure," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    5. Trencher, Gregory, 2019. "Towards the smart city 2.0: Empirical evidence of using smartness as a tool for tackling social challenges," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 142(C), pages 117-128.
    6. Kummitha, Rama Krishna Reddy, 2018. "Entrepreneurial urbanism and technological panacea: Why Smart City planning needs to go beyond corporate visioning?," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 137(C), pages 330-339.
    7. Kummitha, Rama Krishna Reddy, 2019. "Smart cities and entrepreneurship: An agenda for future research," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 149(C).
    8. Jun Zhang & Shuyang Li & Yichuan Wang, 2023. "Shaping a Smart Transportation System for Sustainable Value Co-Creation," Information Systems Frontiers, Springer, vol. 25(1), pages 365-380, February.
    9. Adrian Buttazzoni & Marta Veenhof & Leia Minaker, 2020. "Smart City and High-Tech Urban Interventions Targeting Human Health: An Equity-Focused Systematic Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(7), pages 1-23, March.
    10. Jalaluddin Abdul Malek & Seng Boon Lim & Tan Yigitcanlar, 2021. "Social Inclusion Indicators for Building Citizen-Centric Smart Cities: A Systematic Literature Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(1), pages 1-29, January.
    11. Johannes Stübinger & Lucas Schneider, 2020. "Understanding Smart City—A Data-Driven Literature Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(20), pages 1-23, October.
    12. Ari-Veikko Anttiroiko, 2016. "City-as-a-Platform: The Rise of Participatory Innovation Platforms in Finnish Cities," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(9), pages 1-31, September.
    13. Renata Biadacz & Marek Biadacz, 2021. "Implementation of “Smart” Solutions and An Attempt to Measure Them: A Case Study of Czestochowa, Poland," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(18), pages 1-28, September.
    14. Seema Mundoli & Hita Unnikrishnan & Harini Nagendra, 2017. "The “Sustainable” in smart cities: ignoring the importance of urban ecosystems," DECISION: Official Journal of the Indian Institute of Management Calcutta, Springer;Indian Institute of Management Calcutta, vol. 44(2), pages 103-120, June.
    15. Bipashyee Ghosh & Saurabh Arora, 2022. "Smart as (un)democratic? The making of a smart city imaginary in Kolkata, India," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 40(1), pages 318-339, February.
    16. Kummitha, Rama Krishna Reddy, 2020. "Why distance matters: The relatedness between technology development and its appropriation in smart cities," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 157(C).
    17. Francesco Schiavone & Francesco Paolo Appio & Luca Mora & Marcello Risitano, 2020. "The strategic, organizational, and entrepreneurial evolution of smart cities," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 16(4), pages 1155-1165, December.
    18. J. Ramon Gil-Garcia & Tzuhao Chen & Mila Gasco-Hernandez, 2023. "Smart City Results and Sustainability: Current Progress and Emergent Opportunities for Future Research," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(10), pages 1-17, May.
    19. Yelena Popova & Sergejs Popovs, 2022. "Impact of Smart Economy on Smart Areas and Mediation Effect of National Economy," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(5), pages 1-19, February.
    20. Haarstad, Håvard & Wathne, Marikken W., 2019. "Are smart city projects catalyzing urban energy sustainability?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 129(C), pages 918-925.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:tvecsg:v:112:y:2021:i:5:p:549-565. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=0040-747X .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.