Diversity of theoretical approaches to the concept of smart city

Abstract

Recently the term “smart” has become an increasingly popular concept used in many different situations, in urban development context in particular. Often the term “smart city” is used in association with other categories, such as “knowledge city”, “innovative city”, “intelligent city”, “digital city”, “sustainable city” etc. The idea of smart specialization of cities and regions is spreading fast and has successfully become a platform for economic and social development of local communities. However, there is still a lack of clear scientific interpretation and conceptualization of this phenomenon. Therefore the aim of the paper is to identify the most popular general characteristics used to define the concept of smart city. Authors of the paper explain the theoretical basis of the concept “smartness” emphasizing its specifics in social sciences, compare different “smart city” definitions highlighting main similarities and differences of their content and identify the most common elements of the “smart city” concept. The results of the paper suggest key characteristics for a city aiming to become a “smart city”.