Does scale matter? An overview of the “smart cities” literature

Abstract

The idea of “smart cities” emerged from the contemporary technological advancements and with the aim of enhancing cities’ performance and improving the quality of life. As it turns out, the emerging theories and definitions have not kept up with the speed of technological innovations and their utilities in urban lifestyles. This paper provides a comprehensive definition of smartness and its scope apropos of different geographic scales by conducting an extended literature review. The study concludes that the smart combination of technology-based and non-technology-based resolutions not only enhance the urban performance but also increase the quality of life of inhabitants.