Key Factors Leading to Smart City Failures, and Technological Solutions That Can Address These Issues
Revamped Report:
May 08, 2025 | By Evelyne Hoffman | Smart Cities | Tech Talk | 0 Comments
Swanky cities boasting AI, IoT, and data-driven governance? Sounds fantastic, right? Smart cities promise cleaner air, faster transport, and digital services at scale. But the reality paints a different picture. Over 1,000 active smart city initiatives worldwide struggle with delays, low public trust, and poor returns on investment.
Let's take a gander at China's Xiong'an New Area, touted as a model for the future. With an aim to house up to 3 million, it stood at just 1.2 million by 2024, highlighting a root flaw in smart cities: advancements in tech, but failures in the social, economic, and environmental aspects.
What SMART Cities REALLY Do
At their core, smart cities blend digital systems to enhance urban services, featuring IoT networks, AI platforms, big data analytics, and 5G connectivity. These digital tools align with Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly SDG 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities), SDG 7 (Clean Energy), and SDG 13 (Climate Action).
World's SMART Cities Maturity Divide
In 2024, the Regional Smart City Performance Table exposed a clear discrepancy in smart city development, particularly concerning governance, public engagement, funding, and environmental accountability.
1. Councils, Not Just Computers
Leading regions like Europe and North America have smart city governance units—specialized agencies/task forces driving decisions. Africa trails far back, with only 36% of municipalities equipped with dedicated structures for digital transformation, causing continuity issues.
2. Get the People Involved
Citizen engagement is critically low worldwide, with Europe testimony to this harsh reality, as fewer than half of cities report active citizen participation. Africa tallies just 15%. Planners must remember smart cities are for the residents, not just an architect's dream.
3. Private Sector Needs a Boost
Public funding dominates smart city investments, with private-sector contribution standing at just 13% globally. Europe and North America appear relatively forward in private partnerships, while Africa and Latin America struggle to innovate.
4. Save Our Planet, People!
Environmental monitoring varies regionally, with Europe and Asia polling high, and Africa and Latin America lagging. Lack of oversight compromises claims of sustainability and threatens climate adaptation, especially in vulnerable regions.
The REAL Deal: Policy & Planning
Smart cities can only thrive if policymakers shift from technology-led to needs-led approaches. By establishing smart city units (particularly in Africa and Latin America), boosting civic participation, facilitating private-public partnerships, and standardizing environmental monitoring, cities can truly deliver on their promises.
Why SMART Cities Fall Flat
Smart cities often underperform due to underlying structural, social, and governance issues. Key factors include unclear human-centered goals, governance fragmentation, data governance issues, reliance on proprietary technologies, and overlooked equity and inclusion concerns.
Still SAVING the Smart City Model
While a tech-centric model has its limitations, smart technologies can still strengthen urban resilience, provided they're deployed with governance reforms and community input. AI, IoT, and advanced analytics can help promote equity, deliver basic services, and cater to actual urban challenges with transparency and accountability.
Human Cities, not Just SMART Ones
Ultimately, civic trust, inclusive funding, ecological accountability, and a focus on human needs are essential for smart cities to steer clear of the dreaded "ghost grid" fate. Xiong'an is a stark reminder that cities are complex ecosystems, not mere engineering projects. Smart technology's promise to deliver lies in its capacity to serve, not replace, democratic, fair urban development.
- The advancements in artificial intelligence, IoT, and data-driven governance in smart cities aim to align with Sustainable Development Goal 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities), SDG 7 (Clean Energy), and SDG 13 (Climate Action).
- Environmental accountability is a concern in smart city development, with regions like Africa and Latin America lagging behind in environmental monitoring.
- To thrive, smart cities require policymakers to shift from technology-led to needs-led approaches, prioritizing governance reforms, civic participation, private-public partnerships, and standardized environmental monitoring.
- The underperformance of smart cities is often due to structural, social, and governance issues, such as unclear human-centered goals, data governance issues, reliance on proprietary technologies, and overlooked equity and inclusion concerns.
- Smart technologies can still contribute to strengthening urban resilience, but their success depends on their deployment alongside governance reforms, community input, and a focus on human needs instead of replacement of democratic, fair urban development.
