references
Trends in
KNOWLEDGE
Smart cities: a phenomenon on the rise
Cities are growing in leaps and bounds. The urbanisation process happening today is
population will live in cities.
This concentration in urban areas has a positive effect on cities as it gives them increased political and economic clout on a global scale, and at the same time raises important challenges concerning land regulation, urban maintenance and the production and management of public services, among others. In regards to this last point, a larger urban population also creates new demands from different players in terms of water supply, sustainability of natural resources, education, safety or transport to which local governments must respond. To this scenario we must add today's already-existing competition between cities to attract businesses, tourists and, above all, talent.
20 APRIL--JUNE 2015
Innovation, especially technological innovation, can help local governments face the challenges of urban governance and improve urban environments in order to increase the competitiveness of cities and respond to environmental concerns. To anticipate and manage these challenges, cities need to be innovative. In this context, the concept of smart cities emerges with increasing force. Although there have been numerous attempts to define and describe what a smart city is, so far there is no consensus on its definition and the term is not used consistently. However, several studies have identified certain urban attributes that can char-
acterise a smart city. For example, Rudolph Giffinger led one of the first studies in this area in 2007 and ranked 70 mediumsized European cities using six aspects: smart economy (com-
Innovation, and especially technological innovation, can help local governments in facing the challenges of urban governance
petitiveness), smart people (human and social capital), smart governance (participation), smart mobility (transport and technology), smart environment (quality of life). Based on these variables, the smartest European