Given the complexity and variability of smart city initiatives, it comes as no surprise that their governance remains one of the biggest challenges for municipal governments worldwide. The existence of this critical challenge is comprehensively documented and validated in the United Nations report entitled Global Review of Smart City Governance Practices, which was released in 2022 by UN-Habitat, CAF, Edinburgh Napier University, and Tallinn University of Technology. This study involved active participation from administrative personnel and leaders in municipal governments. Together, these individuals played a pivotal role in supporting a wide data collection process that spanned more than 250 urban areas across five continents.

By acknowledging the multifaceted challenges posed by digital transformation processes in urban contexts, researchers from the FinEst Centre of Smart Cities of Tallinn University of Technology and Edinburgh Napier University, in collaboration with the United Nations’ Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) and CAF – Development Bank of Latin America, published another playbook titled “Managing Smart City Governance – A Playbook for Local and Regional Governments” in November 2023. This latest report complements the previous review of governance practices with new evidence-based guidance for local government leaders and municipal administrations involved in smart city initiatives. For each component of the governance framework developed in the Global Review, a set of practical recommendations is introduced, supported by examples from urban areas around the world. These recommendations build on a rich knowledge base that integrates best practices highlighted in the smart city literature with evidence emerging from data collected through an online survey and expert interviews.

Digital technologies for urban development

Digital technologies present a wealth of invaluable opportunities for sustainable urban development. They seamlessly integrate into traditional urban processes and activities, enhancing their efficiency and quality, while serving as the foundation for the creation of new services and applications that can revolutionize city life. A prime example of this transformation is the utilization of real-time data to optimize traffic management, alleviate road congestion, and enhance air quality in urban areas.

Concurrently, smart mobility services, including car sharing and demand responsive local transport, are undergoing substantial transformations to offer more sustainable alternatives to both private vehicles and conventional public transportation systems.

In addition, digital technologies open doors to enhance civic participation and democracy. Online platforms are emerging as powerful tools that facilitate citizen engagement with the political and social aspects of their cities. Meanwhile, promising technologies such as artificial intelligence and blockchain hold the potential to revolutionize urban processes, leading to more responsive, efficient, and personalized public services.

These are merely a handful of examples, but the potentialities are almost limitless, underscoring the profound influence of digital technologies on our urban environments. However, the mere application

of these technologies within urban settings falls short of rendering them truly smart. Successful smart city initiatives necessitate the harmonization of resources and involvement from a wide array of economic and societal sectors, and they must be accompanied by substantial changes within the public sector. The unpredictability surrounding emerging technologies also raises sustainability concerns and ethical dilemmas that can only be tackled through collective endeavors. Moreover, the development of smart city initiatives entails the synchronization of governmental bodies at various administrative tiers, as well as the exchange of knowledge across a range of disciplinary domains.
 

Three main areas of smart city management were identified

The summary of recommendations in the handbook follow the three areas of smart city management identified in the research and aim to improve the approach to managing smart city initiatives:

• Strategy part covers the necessary administrative, legal, organizational and strategic frameworks for managing smart city initiatives. This includes public sector provisions, policies and regulations and strategic action planning.
• Collaborative network recommendations focus on coordinating networks of stakeholders in smart city initiatives. It is divided into innovation partnerships and cooperation with civil society organizations, private companies, and other parties.
• Recommendations related to technological infrastructure have aspects related to the management of the creation and deployment of technological elements. The goal is to promote system integration, data standards, and interoperability.

The methodology of the playbook included a systematic literature review, which defined the smart city management framework; an online survey that was available in nine languages and collected responses from 300 people from more than 250 municipalities in Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America and North America; and expert interviews with 131 experts from 37 countries. The selected interviewees were known for their expertise in managing urban digital transitions and shared diverse perspectives and guidance. They included government officials, heads of smart city units, researchers, representatives of NGOs, private consultants and heads of public sector organizations.

The summary was compiled by one of the manual authors, Dominik Beckers, a doctoral student and junior researcher at the FinEst Centre for Smart Cities.

The setup of the FinEst Centre for Smart Cities is funded by two grants: the European Union´s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme, under the grant agreement No. 856602, and the European Regional Development Fund, co-funded by the Estonian Ministry of Education and Research, under grant agreement No 2014-2020.4.01.20-0289