María Teresa Nevado Gil

University of Extremadura, Facultad de Empresas, Finanzas y Turismo, Cáceres, Spain

E-mail: tnevado@unex.es

ORCID 0000-0002-4924-0908

Determining factors in becoming a sustainable smart city: An empirical study in Europe

Luísa Carvalho

Institute Polytechnic of Setúbal, School of Business and Administration, Setúbal & CEFAGE-University of Évora, Portugal

E-mail: luisa.c.carvalho@esce.ips.pt

ORCID 0000-0002-9804-7813

Inna Paiva

Instituto Universitário de Lisboa (ISCTE-IUL), Business Research Unit (BRU-IUL), Lisboa, Portugal

Email: Inna_Paiva@iscte-iul.pt

ORCID 0000-0002-9980-7503

Abstract. This paper aims firstly to identify differences and similarities between cities according to the activities which are necessary to become a smart city and secondly to identify relevant factors that could influence positions in the smart cities ranking. To achieve these goals, this study uses a quantitative analysis applied to 73 European cities to identify the factors that influence differences between smart cities. The results suggest the formation of clusters around European smart cities and also that cities located geographically in the west of Europe and with governance by women present higher levels in the European Smart Cities rankings.

Received: August, 2019

1st Revision: October, 2019

Accepted: February, 2020

DOI: 10.14254/2071-789X.2020/13-1/2

JEL Classification: H0, H70, O10, Q56

Keywords: smart cities, Europe, sustainability, factors