Reviewing the State-of-the-Art of Smart Cities in Portugal: Evidence Based on Content Analysis of a Portuguese Magazine

Diogo Correia, Leonor Teixeira and João Lourenço Marques
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Diogo Correia: Governance, Competitiveness and Public Policy (GOVCOPP), Department of Economics, Management, Industrial Engineering and Tourism (DEGEIT), University of Aveiro, 3010-193 Aveiro, Portugal
Leonor Teixeira: Department of Economics, Management, Industrial Engineering and Tourism (DEGEIT), Institute of Electronics and Informatics Engineering of Aveiro (IEETA), University of Aveiro, 3010-193 Aveiro, Portugal
João Lourenço Marques: Governance, Competitiveness and Public Policy (GOVCOPP), Department of Social, Political and Territorial Sciences (DCSPT), University of Aveiro, 3010-193 Aveiro, Portugal

Publications, 2021, vol. 9, issue 4, 1-30

Abstract: The lack of examples of smart-city initiatives and the sharing of best practices in Portugal confirm the gap in the transference of empirical knowledge to the scientific literature in this area. The smart-city concept has passed through three stages. However, its evolution has not been noted equally throughout countries and their territories. The literature only provides information about specific projects implemented in a few cities. Therefore, the aim of this paper was to study the state-of-the-art of smart cities in Portugal by analyzing 25 editions of the most relevant national-wide smart-cities magazine. First, the objective of analyzing the magazine was to study each Portuguese city in terms of the subject areas and types of existing initiatives in order, ultimately, to frame cities within their respective smart-city phases, as per the literature. Second, the aim of the paper was also to provide information about the evolution of the concept through analyses of embedded experts’ quotes. The results of the first are complemented with the analysis of interviews with policymakers to provide information about the existing challenges to implementing a smart city and to understand the role of government therein. Qualitative and quantitative analyses were performed on the case study. The findings suggest that the three smart-city phases are perceived in slightly different ways in Portugal and heterogeneity within the country can be noted from the lack of strategies and a standard framework.

Keywords: smart city; empirical evidence; state-of-the-art; Portugal (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: A2 D83 L82 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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