Transition towards Smart City: The Case of Tallinn

Lill Sarv and Ralf-Martin Soe
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Lill Sarv: FinEst Twins Smart City Center of Excellence, Tallinn University of Technology, 12616 Tallinn, Estonia
Ralf-Martin Soe: FinEst Twins Smart City Center of Excellence, Tallinn University of Technology, 12616 Tallinn, Estonia

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 8, 1-18

Abstract: The main interest of this paper is to analyze the gap between an existing city and its future vision set in the strategy, with a focus on the transition path towards becoming a Smart City. For the analyses, we used the example of Tallinn, a middle-sized European capital city acknowledged in innovation reports as a good example of a Smart City development. This is a qualitative case study with data based on the Tallinn 2035 strategy document and on the interviews conducted with city officials. We mapped the current situation in regard to the four Smart City strategies dichotomies framework in order to understand if and how the future vision of Tallinn differs from the present. The results indicate that the current direction deviates in several ways from the future vision set in the strategy, and that to be able to move towards the vision, strategic changes are needed. With this paper we hope to add some insights to the literature about the knowledge gap between Smart City theory and implementation from the perspective of a present situation versus long-term strategy.

Keywords: Smart City; sustainable urban development; Smart City transitions; development process; strategy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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