Factors to Facilitate Policy Transfer Among Smart Cities
One important strength in embracing the Smart City concept is benefitting the open knowledge and collaborative principles in the effort of improving the quality of life of the city. Partnerships and collaboration among smart cities allow the local government to learn from each other case studies and implement the best practice in their own cities. This process of adapting knowledge in another political system is known as Policy Transfer. For cities to gain the best of this process, Li et al. (2022) identifies the factors that drive the policy transfer in smart cities. Understanding of these factors can support local governments to strengthen the urban governance fundamentals that support the development of their smart cities.
- Enthusiasm for Policy Learning
Local governments must acquire the interest and capability to keep up with the growing knowledge and innovation in the development of Smart Cities that progress rapidly.
- Policy Entrepreneurs
These are groups or individuals that can map the dynamics of the governance structure related to smart cities that become the communicator and facilitator between stakeholders that ensure that successful implementation of smart city development.
- Financial instruments
Policy transfer works effectively in governments that have creative approach in tapping new and innovative financial instruments to realise the advancement of the smart city
- Capacity Building
Trainings, workshops, technical cooperation stimulate local government to improve the policy capacity to assist the implementation of smart city initiatives
- Explicit Regulatory Platform
Regulations should be designed that institutionalize explicit mechanisms to enable
governments to take charge of the smart city developmental ecosystem,
to avoid vendor lock-in, and to allow better adoption of innovative solutions.
- Adaptation to Local Policy
Tweaking existing instruments to suit the specific needs of a city based on its
unique geography, culture, climate, and political–economic context is crucial to shorten the learning curve and ensure the success of implementation in the local context.
Reference
Li, L., Taeihagh, A., & Tan, S. Y. (2022). What factors drive policy transfer in smart city development? Insights from a Delphi study. Sustainable Cities and Society, 84, 104008.
