What is the impact of smart city development? Empirical evidence from a Smart City Impact Index

Abstract

Smart cities aim to provide benefits such as economic prosperity, environmental sustainability, and high quality of life to their citizens. However, we do not have a comprehensive understanding of how and to what extent these benefits are realized. This paper aims to find empirical evidence of both positive and negative results of smart city development. Smart City Impact Index is developed with indicators in four pillars of sustainability (economic, environmental, social, and governance) and technological dimension as technology is main driver of smart cities. The index was applied to South Korean cities, which are categorized as 1) first-wave smart cities that focus on transportation and security infrastructure, 2) second-wave smart cities that emphasize comprehensive urban management, and 3) non-smart cities. The index score was calculated for the years 2008 and 2018 to compare the before and after of smart city development. The results showed that the second-wave smart cities scored highest in both 2008 and 2018. However, the second-wave smart city had a lower score in both the environment and social dimensions. Smart city development in South Korea has had positive impacts on facilitating equality and citizen participation but negative impacts on people's perceptions of transparency and privacy.