Smart City Technological Infrastructure: Challenges of Global Smart Cities

The UN Habitat conducted a survey to map these challenges by surveying 300 respondents knowledgeable on smart city governance in more than 250 municipalities in Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America, and North America to examine what global smart cities face as challenges in creating and implementing smart city strategies. This includes challenges in establishing the technological infrastructure which acts as the backbone of smart cities. 

Data-driven decision making is one of the advantages Smart City offer for local governments in developing their cities. Local governments in Africa, Asia, and Latin America rely more on external and non-national actors due to limited internal data collection capabilities. While most municipalities have open data platforms, the presence of official standards for data collection is limited, especially in African and North American cities. Although, data visualization is a powerful tool that is commonly used for data exploration and analysis, the survey suggests that different departments within a municipal government rarely share a single tool. 

Other challenges related to the introduction of smart city services include a lack of skills within the public sector and limited digital literacy among residents, particularly in low and lower-middle income countries. Smart city initiatives often build upon existing technological resources, but considerations of technology acceptance among residents and users are less prominent in lower-middle and low-income countries. Additionally, the focus of municipal governments tends to be primarily on pilot projects, although this percentage is lower in North America and Latin America. Long-term sustainability of smart city initiatives is a global concern, with a higher incidence in Africa and North America. 

Reference:

Global Review of Smart City Governance Practices: Technical Report by UN Habitat

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