A Framework for a Smart City Design : Digital Transformation in the Helsinki Smart City

Abstract

Recently, there has been substantial interest in the concept of a smart city, as it has been a viable solution to the dilemmas created by the urbanization of cities. Digital technologies—such as Internet-of-Things, artificial intelligence, big data, and geospatial technologies—are closely associated with the concept of a smart city. By means of modern digital technologies, cities aim to optimize their performance and services. Further, cities actively endorse modern digital technologies to foster digitalization and the emergence of data-based innovations and a knowledge economy. In this paper, a framework for a smart city design is presented. The framework considers a smart city from the perspective of four dimensions—strategy, technology, governance, and stakeholders. The framework is complemented with sub-dimensions, and the purpose of this framework is to strengthen the governance and sustainability of smart city initiatives. Further, the proposed framework is applied to the Helsinki smart city, the capital of Finland. The objective is to analyse the Helsinki smart city through dimensions presented in the framework and learn how the city of Helsinki governs and implements its smart city initiatives