Smart City for Development: A Conceptual Model for Developing Countries

The present article addresses how smart city initiatives can positively impact development, with a special emphasis on developing countries. Extant definitions and maturity models on smart cities have a very strong focus on the mere use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT), thereby ignoring the special needs and factors to be considered in developing countries. Thus, by using the extant literature on Smart Cities and Information and Communication Technology for Development (ICT4D), a comprehensive Smart City for Development (SC4D) model is introduced. The article argues that a favorable ecosystem for SC4D is one that is backed by both national and local sustainability, infrastructure, human capital, services, apps, and data. Moreover, successful SC4D initiatives include bottom-up approaches, citizen participation, a fit with both the national and the local culture, as well as a fit with the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals and the Capability Approach.