Critical Governance Element for Different Phase of Smart City Development
Smart City is adapted more and more for the development of cities around the world. However, the pace of change may have differed from one another. Ooms et al. (2020) recognise that for each city the level of advancement of which they adapt the concept matters to the type of governance they required to thrive.
Cities that have just adopt the concept, or in the initiation phase, it is crucial that the leader is focus on relationship building especially internally within the local government. This is due to the need to establish the common ground for the Smart City vision of the city. City leaders in the initiation phase of Smart City will need to build trust and commitment and common goal for the organisation to go forward. This is the time to establish clear management process, roles and responsibilities of each actor and stakeholder.
While cities that adopt the concept earlier, or in the phase of growing their smart city, Ooms et al. (2020), argues that different kind of leadership is requires. Leaders should focus on the control of the vision, by setting, advocating, and measuring the performance of the ecosystem of the smart city. At this phase, Smart City development should aim to establish relation with external stakeholders, enforce its co-creation strategy and authorise a dedicated organisation that could facilitate the communication process with external parties.
Despite having differing need on each phase, it is essential that smart cities do not neglect certain government elements in every phase as it is all interdependent with each other. Strong leadership for example, is a continuous need for the development of smart city but it may need adaptation as the city advances, as previously explained.
Reference:
Ooms, W., Caniëls, M. C., Roijakkers, N., & Cobben, D. (2020). Ecosystems for smart cities: tracing the evolution of governance structures in a dutch smart city initiative. International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, 1-34.
