The current context of the smart city concept development. Case study: Romania

Abstract

As the fourth industrial revolution, namely the industry 4.0, has become a significant element of the current social and economic lifestyle regarding automation and interconnectivity of several fields, the cities administration, transportation and living conditions of the population have changed worldwide in the sense of more dynamics, interconnectivity and innovation in recent years. Smart city tools, as a main factor of the industry 4.0, such as smart metering or smart traffic lights, have supported the process of the knowledge economy, innovation and sustainability by contributing to waste decrease, to energy efficiency, to urban efficiency, to emission reduction more effective cost and information transparency, while also promoting a more dynamic adaptation process to the current needs of the global population. By implementing the Delphi method based on interviews and questionnaires with 61 participants the research provides an insight in the implementation degree, needs and costs of some of the most important Smart city tools applied in Romania, as well as estimated trends for the next years. While more progress is needed in terms of the implementation of these smart city tools in order to obtain more information transparency, sustainability and interconnectivity between different institutions, devices and individuals, significant progress has been made. The current study offers an overview of the current context of the smart city tools development and implementation in the Romanian market, which has not been previously inquired. © 2021, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.