National and local governments are focusing on the development and challenges regarding smart cities. Smart cities will solve challenges regarding climate change, air pollution, and congestion for example, but information about how to develop and implement such a smart city lack. This article will give you more information about the development of smart cities, including an Input-Output model to make informed design choices.
Smart cities can help to solve the problem of economic growth, providing smart growth and ecological modernization resulting in decreased environmentally harmful output. Although the notion of a smart city is more popular, the facets of a smart city, the design to develop a smart city and the input-output (IO) model is still very unknown. The IO model will point out the key facets of smart cities, which can be used by policymakers and practitioners in the decision-making process. Besides smart cities such as Dubai, Barcelona, and Masdar, Amsterdam is also working towards becoming a smart city.
After studying literature reviews and conducting interviews, smart cities are positioned, and their key facets are pinpointed. The main related concepts to smart cities are data, IoT, cloud computing, energy, data analytics, security, and privacy. These concepts are further reviewed to create the model. The developed Input-output model can be used for cities in an institutional environment in which the local government wanted to develop a smart city. It provides a guideline to implement a smart city, from input through throughput to output and a feedback loop back to the input. A smart city can be developed in different ways, a standard one doesn’t exist.
Figure 1: Graphical conceptualization of the IO model for the Smart City development process (source: Input-Output Modeling for Smart City Development.)
Input
Inputs in this model refer to the domains of the smart city for which goals are formulated and resources are made available. The key resources needed to build a smart city, are:
Output The output is seen as the results of smart city policies for which goals are formulated and input resources are made available. The outputs are:
Throughput
Throughput is seen as the process to manage assets and making decisions about how to transform them into outputs to achieve goals. One of the most important capabilities is the ability to turn data into value, providing reliable information. Knowledge and innovation will contribute to this involving human resources. Besides, financial asset management should focus on both fundings as well as the non-financial aspects, sustainable finance concerning long term value creation (responsibility for the future city). Governance and leadership throughput refer to the importance to govern the development of smart cities. It is important to involve different organizational layers, coordinate among actors, and use different leadership capability to form the body of decision-making in different ways.
Output
The output is seen as the results of smart city policies for which goals are formulated and input resources are made available. The outputs are:
In conclusion, the model will help to support the decision-making process for developing a smart city based on its key facets. The model shows how the key resources and throughputs result in the given outputs. Looking for example at Smart city Dubai, the importance to work with start-ups and attract innovative companies is one of the most important things to boost the innovative atmosphere in developing smart cities.
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Based on the following research: Noori, N., de Jong, M., Janssen, M., Schraven, D., & Hoppe, T. (2020). Input-Output Modeling for Smart City Development. Journal of Urban Technology, 1–22. https://doi.org/10.1080/10630732.2020.1794728
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