2 Background
The smart city concept has different connotations from
the people’s perspective versus the technological perspective. This is clear when countries set initiatives to
become smart cities because they give different points of
view around the smart city. Although there is a prevalence of the smart city phenomena worldwide, there is
obscurity its definition. “The smart city sector is still in
the ‘I know it when I see it’ phase, without a universally
agreed definition”. In other words, a shared definition of
a smart city is not yet offered, and it has been difficult to
pinpoint a standard global meaning. However, the majority of definitions highlight common characteristics, features, and components that may specify the perspectives
of smart cities. Examples include the enhancement of the
quality of life for a particular segment–city citizens–
through utilizing information technology hardware, software, networks, and data on different city areas and services. It could also involve various city components like
natural resources, infrastructures, power, transportation,
education, healthcare, government, and public safety.
Table 1 depicts different definitions of a smart city that
focus on some of these different areas.
From the offered definitions we can view the smart
city as an integrated living solution that links many life
aspects such as power, transportation, and buildings in a
smart and efficient manner to improve the quality of life
for the citizens of such city. In addition the definitions
also focus on the future by emphasizing the importance
of sustainability of resources and applications for the
future generations. We observed these aspects on each
smart city proposal regardless of size, location and
available resources. In general, governments around the
world are mostly concerned about the cost of acquiring
a smart city due to the varying financial abilities and the
scarcity of resources, natural or human. The availability
and size of such resources and their capabilities is one of
the challenges of building and maintaining a smart city.
Another challenge is the regulatory systems that could
greatly affect the chances of success. To top all that
there are also the technical challenges requiring highly