Practical Approach for the Development of Digital Guidelines for Smart Cities

Due to emerging urban challenges, cities are currently under great pressure to change. A popular response to these challenges is the concept of a Smart City. Urban space is undergoing a digital transformation process. As in industry, this transformation not only brings opportunities, but also many risks for a city. The neglect of stakeholders and financially unsustainable implementations are only exemplary risks that cities must take into account. To pursue a sustainable implementation of Smart City initiatives, a holistic approach is required. A holistic Smart City development requires strategic management. Uncoordinated activities can lead to important synergy effects not being used and resources and capacities being wasted. In this paper, a practical approach is outlined for the development of digital guidelines for the transformation process towards a Smart City. The procedure is divided into the definition of responsibilities, an internal and external analysis, the development of a structuring framework and the design of the digital guidelines. In principle, approaches from the strategic management of companies can be adopted, but must be adapted to the concrete challenges of cities. This concerns in particular the structuring framework of the digital guideline. Special attention should be paid to this again in the context of the city strategy. It is particularly important to pursue a hybrid approach and so to involve not only the administration but also the citizens. This will strengthen the acceptance of the digital guidelines.