Concept of Smart Cities and ICT Penetration in Europe

Abstract

In the year 2050 it is expected that about 66 percent of the world's population will live in cities. With these urban population explosion, city authorities are faced with the challenge of managing an exacerbating number of social, planning, and other organizational issues that will arise as a result of the influx of people in spatially. The increasing rate of urbanization poses a serious and imperative challenge for cities to find alternative ways and means to manage the accompanying complication such as high cost of accommodation, traffic congestion, increasing crime rate, air pollution, bad waste management etc. This has compelled governments, urban planners and other stakeholders to come up with innovative policies and plans to make cities more sustainable, smarter, and safer. This is the reason why smart cities have gained popularity because it is hailed as the solution to urban problems. Smart cities heavily rely on the use digital technologies to transform and control the governance, mobility, economy, and the environment for the benefit of citizens. The main objective of this dissertation therefore was to examine the concept of smart cities and ICT penetration in some elected countries across Europe. These cities were examined to find out the best practices that have made them successful making cities sustainable and environmentally friendly. This thesis has been able to show that the concept of smart city is novel in many parts of Europe.