smart-cities-in-Europe

  1SmartcitiesinEuropeAndreaCaragliu1,ChiaraDelBo2,PeterNijkamp3AbstractUrbanperformancecurrentlydependsnotonlyonthecity’sendowmentofhardinfrastructure(‘physicalcapital’),butalso,andincreasinglyso,ontheavailabilityandqualityofknowledgecommunicationandsocialinfrastructure(‘humanandsocialcapital’).Thelatterformofcapitalisdecisiveforurbancompetitiveness.Againstthisbackground,theconceptofthe‘smartcity’hasrecentlybeenintroducedasastrategicdevicetoencompassmodernurbanproductionfactorsinacommonframeworkand,inparticular,tohighlighttheimportanceofInformationandCommunicationTechnologies(ICTs)inthelast20yearsforenhancingthecompetitiveprofileofacity.Thepresentpaperaimstoshedlightontheoftenelusivedefinitionoftheconceptofthe‘smartcity’.WeprovideafocussedandoperationaldefinitionofthisconstructandpresentconsistentevidenceonthegeographyofsmartcitiesintheEU27.Ourstatisticalandgraphicalanalysesexploitindepth,forthefirsttimetoourknowledge,themostrecentversionoftheUrbanAuditdatasetinordertoanalysethefactorsdeterminingtheperformanceofsmartcities.Wefindthatthepresenceofacreativeclass,thequalityofanddedicatedattentiontotheurbanenvironment,thelevelofeducation,multimodalaccessibility,andtheuseofICTsforpublicadministrationareallpositivelycorrelatedwithurbanwealth.ThisresultpromptstheformulationofanewstrategicagendaforsmartcitiesinEurope,inordertoachievesustainableurbandevelopmentandabetterurbanlandscape.Keywords:smartcity,urbandevelopment,humancapital,transportinfrastructure,ICTsJELclassificationcodes:A13,L90,O18,R12Pn337accdbContents 1. Introduction...............................................................................................................................................2 2. Literaturereview.......................................................................................................................................3 3. Anoperationaldefinitionofthesmartcity................................................................................................6 4. QuantitativeandgraphicalevidenceonEuropeansmartcities.................................................................6 5. Conclusionsandpolicyimplications.......................................................................................................13 References.......................................................................................................................................................14                                                             1PolitecnicodiMilano,PiazzaLeonardo32,20133Milan,Italy.2UniversitàdegliStudidiMilano,ViaConservatorio7,20122Milan,Italy.3VUUniversity,DeBoelelaan1105,Amsterdam1081HV,TheNetherlands.   21.IntroductionWhatisthesourceofurbangrowthandofsustainableurbandevelopment?Thisquestionhasreceivedcontinuousattentionfromresearchersandpolicymakersformanydecades.Citiesallovertheworldareinastateoffluxandexhibitcomplexdynamics.Ascitiesgrow,plannersdevise“complexsystemstodealwithfoodsuppliesonaninternationalscale,watersuppliesoverlongdistancesandlocalwastedisposal,urbantrafficmanagementsystemsandsoon;(…)andthequalityofallsuchurbaninputsdefinesthequalityoflifeofurbandwellers”(TheScienceMuseum2004).Notwithstandingtheenormousformidablechallengesanddisadvantagesassociatedwithurbanagglomerations,theworldpopulationhasbeensteadilyconcentratingincities.Figure1showsthepercentageofUScitizenslivingincities(definedasagglomerationsofmorethan1,000dwellers);amassiveriseinthispercentagetookplace,from5.1percentin1790tomorethan75percentoftheUSpopulationbeinglocatedinurbanareasintheyear2000.020406080%ofUSpopulationlivingincities18001850190019502000Year Figure1PercentageofUSpopulationlivinginurbanareas,1790-1990Source:USCensusInaddition,wealsowitnessasubstantialincreaseintheaveragesizeofurbanareas.Thishasbeenmadepossiblebyasimultaneousupwardshiftintheurbantechnologicalfrontier,sothatacitycouldaccommodatemoreinhabitants.Problemsassociatedwithurbanagglomerationshaveusuallybeensolvedbymeansofcreativity,humancapital,cooperation(sometimesbargaining)amongrelevantstakeholders,andbrightscientificideas:inanutshell,‘smart’solutions.Thelabel‘smartcity’shouldthereforepointtocleversolutionsallowingmoderncitiestothrive,throughquantitative  3andqualitativeimprovementinproductivity.However,whengoogling‘Smartcitydefinition’4,wediscoverthatamongtheveryfirstresultswecannameacommunicationsprovider,aUSradio,anEdinburghhostel,aninitiativeoftheAmsterdamInnovationEngine,andsoon;butnosignofaproperdefinition.Inthepresentpaperwesearchforaclearerandfocusseddefinitionofthelabel‘smartcity’.Wenextprovidequalitativeevidenceonthecorrelationsbetweenthedimensionsofourdefinitionofsmartcitiesandameasureofwealth,i.e.percapitaGDPinPurchasingPowerParity(henceforth,PPP).5Wewillstartwithabriefliteraturereviewinthenextsection.2.LiteraturereviewTheconceptofthe‘smartcity’hasbeenquitefashionableinthepolicyarenainrecentyears.ItsmainfocusseemstobeontheroleofICTinfrastructure,althoughmuchresearchhasalsobeencarriedoutontheroleofhumancapital/education,socialandrelationa