Brought by Degrees: A Focus on the Current Indicators of Lean ‘Smartness’ in Smart Cities

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to look at the indicators to which a city can be considered to be a smart city based upon the degree it meets specific indicators within the categories of 'Social Smartness', 'Technological Smartness' and 'Environmental Smartness'. The data collection for this paper was conducted through desk research in academic and nonacademic articles and publications that focus on smart cities and their associated indicators. This study found out common factors based upon the indicators studied. 'Social Smartness' had a focus on the quality of life, civic engagement and wellbeing. 'Technological Smartness' was centric on flexible technology, well utilised and defined applied technology and data. 'Environmental Smartness' was focused on optimisation, waste management and sustainable thinking. This study offers possibilities to advance Lean thinking by looking at indicators to attribute a degree of 'Smartness' to cities which in turn will optimise the development and operation of a Smart City and Smart Districts.

Towards a Citizen Centered Smart City: Integrating LeanThinking and Social Wellbeing

“…For instance, Toli & Murtagh (2020) reveal that the most prevalent sustainability definition of smart cities includes the focus on the social dimension as opposed to the economic or environmental dimensions. An environmentally Smart City is viewed as a city that implements systems to optimize processes (by levelling resources, recycling, creating waste plans, and utilizing renewable energy) and reduces carbon footprint (by decreasing emissions through the infrastructure and buildings constructed); which in turn enhances the quality of life (QoL) of its residents (Collins et al, 2021). A socially Smart City has "a high level of citizen engagement and participation aimed at improving the well-being quality of life of its citizens" (Collins et al, 2021).…”

“…Despite the great evolution that cities witnessed over the course of multiple centuries, the fundamental human needs of safety and security to conduct daily activities remain unchanged (Collins et al, 2021). However, key historic events such as the industrial revolution in the late 18th century, followed by great technological advancements, exacerbated urbanization and cultural shifts, elevating people's expectations in what cities should offer.…”

“…This popularity came along an ever-increasing concern for the environment, whereby Smart Cities are expected to be a solution to sustainability problems in a technologically advanced way (Toli & Murtagh, 2020). Namely, as the world's resources are scarce and limited, cities need to adopt sustainable policies and strategies to be able to cater for the basic demands of the occupants and maintain a solid ground for future growth and development (Collins et al, 2021). Therefore, we find governments either investing or planning to invest in today's cities to transform them into sustainable and technologically oriented spaces.…”

Get smart: the importance of urban facilities management to smart neighbourhoods and their citizens in a project’s early stages

“…In the development of Smart Cities from a holistic perspective, a 'human-centred' approach is essential in ensuring that such a neighbourhood is fit for its purpose. Whilst numerous Smart City definitions and studies exist, they mostly focus on the technological and governmental aspects of a city or neighbourhood [4]. As illustrated in section 3.2, there is a need to focus more specifically on the operational level human factors within the development of Smart Cities.…”

Sustainable accounting standard for increasing sustainable refurbishment projects

“…However, some sustainability challenges for developing housing co-operatives are mentioned, e.g., reaching an agreement on upgrading and engaging residents [7]; long and repetitive IOP Publishing doi:10.1088/1755-1315/1101/6/062029 2 processes [8]; limited finance, lack of knowledge and trust, and an inhomogeneous group of residents [9,10]. To overcome these, some suggestions are proposed: integrating sustainable principles into the decision-making process [11]; increasing focus on the social dimension of sustainability, considering and prioritizing social elements in new methods [12,13]; simplifying methods and tools in rehabilitation and refurbishment projects that most people understand and can use [14]; lean principles [15]; focusing on increasing quality of life [16]; empowering citizen's participation [17]; designing interactive tool to reach the higher residents' participation level in a refurbishment project [18]; better partnership collaboration [19]; co-creating solutions [20] and; focusing on innovative solutions [21].…”