Agbali, M
2019,
Developing a framework to promote innovation in socio-economic development in smart cities
, PhD thesis, University of Salford.
Abstract
The Smart City (SC) concept has emerged as an innovative response to the challenges and opportunities created by rapid urbanisation around the world. Consequently, city governments around the globe are embracing ‘Smart’ strategies as part of major steps towards making their cities more livable and sustainable. Despite global attention on the SC concept and its recognised potential to improve the circumstances of cities in any region, there is paucity of research on appropriate framework models to assess the impacts of smartness on cities in developing countries. Based on a systematic literature review and a pilot study with key SC stakeholders, the study initially built a conceptual framework for a multi-dimensional understanding of the critical success factors (CSFs) and indicators of Smart Cities (SCs) that aligned with stakeholders’ perceptions and experiences of SCs. Then, the study examined Smart Innovations in Boston, FCT-Abuja, and Manchester as case studies of SC development. Through the conduct of in-depth face-to-face interviews across the cases, the field investigation gathered high quality feedbacks from knowledge-rich SC stakeholders. In doing so, the core components of SCs and their underlying CSFs and indicators were identified and examined. In order to validate the factors/indicators extracted from the literature, and interviews with experts, the study adopted a sequential methodology to further collect quantitative data using a survey instrument. The data analysis employed the Kruskal-Wallis H test and Spearman’s correlation with interpretive mean scores to highlight the priority CSFs and indicators of smartness based on their significance. Through a cross-case comparison of the variables emphasised in the analysis, three core components, 11 CSFs, and 32 core indicators of SC KPIs emerged. These established KPIs were modeled using a System Dynamics approach with Vensim PLE. The study highlighted some novel findings in terms of the different perspectives of SC vision and place-based innovation ecosystems that evolved across the cases investigated. The findings suggests conceptualisation of SC innovation around entrepreneurial development, effective and efficient service delivery systems in order for cities to retain sustainable development with strong emphasis placed on an improved quality of life, suitable to be applied both in developed and developing countries.
The study concluded with a strong recommendation for cities in developing countries to address the challenges of development infrastructure deficits as a starting point for SC deployment; it proposed a framework model based on the priority core components of Smart Infrastructure, Smart Institution, and Smart People. A particularly notable part of this study into ongoing SC evolution is that it highlights the major contributions of SC practitioners in theory, practice, and methodology.
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