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The adoption of smart city initiatives is a key lever to attract and retain new business and talent in local government areas to support the development of the innovation economy in Australia. To identify the ‘state of play’ in the adoption of smart city initiatives within local government areas, we survey state and federal policy associated with ‘smart’ and present a qualitative analysis of four case studies of cities. We then synthesize our findings from this analysis into recommendations for smart city initiatives. The article is structured into three parts. First, we present an overview of the rationale behind the adoption of smart city initiatives in supporting the innovation economy, focusing on challenges and opportunities that have been documented in previous literature. Second, we describe the case studies analysed and the themes that emerged. Third, we discuss the design recommendations arising from this analysis to illustrate how Australian cities and businesses might accelerate the adoption of smart city initiatives in local government areas and the implications more broadly for smart city adoption globally.

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