Why do cities adopt smart technologies? Contingency theory and evidence from the United States

Little is known why cities adopt smart technologies. This study is the first to develop and test a managerial contingency theory to explain variations in the adoption of smart city technologies. The theory is tested using the Akaike Information Criterion Stepwise OLS regression model with data from 329 cities in the United States and 13 smart city technologies. The study finds that adoption of smart city technologies is indeed contingent with managerial incentives, constraints and context. Funding from state governments, availability of technical assistance and city branding have positive and statistically significant effects on smart technology adoption. Conversely, lack of leadership, legacy systems and lack of understanding of technology have negative and statistically significant effects. Demography, geography and form of government are also associated with technology adoption. Managerial contingency theory opens a new field of research on smart cities.