Using Classification and Roadmapping techniques for Smart City viabilitys realization

Abstract

Abstract: Smart cities suggest a domain that attracts an increasing scientific, political and economic attention. However, this domain is still confusing, since various parties define or apply alternative perspectives. Scientists document a technological smart city evolution from a website form to modern ubiquitous and eco‑friendly ones; city networks describe this phenomenon more likely as a measurement system for intelligence in urban areas; business sector recognizes smart cities as ⠜application boxes⠀ for information technologies etc. This paper focuses on the abovementioned technological approaches to smart city and realizes that each approach attracted various cases, which later evolved to other forms or declined. To this end, it seeks to answer the following questions: what different technological approaches to smart city exist or have existed and how can they ⠜fit⠀ to market‑driven defined approaches? How have the smart cities evolved? Do particular technology evolution roadmaps exist for smart cities? In order to answer these questions, this paper performs smart city classification, according to the alternative technological approaches that appear in literature and determines representative city cases together with similarities and differences among these approaches. Literature review is combined with data from the official websites of the representative cases, which returns groups of e‑services that are being offered by different smart city approaches. These e‑service groups are used to identify evolution roadmaps for smart city that can show how smart cities have emerged and to which particular directions are being evolved. The evolution roadmaps are depicted via the technology roadmapping tool. These roadmaps can become a useful tool for decision makers, who have to choose between alternative evolution forms and projects that secure smart city⠒s viability. Viability is a crucial parameter for every project, especially due to recent financial recession, since smart cities demand extensive funding, which significantly affects la