The Development Process of Smart City Strategies: The Case of Barcelona

Smart cities are urban areas in which information and communication technologies are used to solve their specific problems and support their sustainable development in social, economic and/or environmental terms. In recent years, turning ordinary urban environments into smart cities has become a strategic priority for a growing number of municipalities around the world that have decided to launch specific strategies, characterized by different approaches, in an attempt to achieve this aim. However, the available knowledge concerning the possible ways in which the development of strategies for becoming smart can be faced is very low indeed. Within the literature concerning this topic, there is an evident lack of clarity and common approaches based on empirical evidence that can be used to guide the different actors involved in the construction and management of these strategies towards successful results. The research activities documented in this paper have been implemented in order to provide an initial response to this urgent need. Specifically, using case study research with a descriptive approach and focusing attention on large European cities, the strategy proposed by Barcelona City Council has been analyzed in-depth and a step-by-step roadmap in which all the phases and activities considered in this successful case has been defined and illustrated in detail. This roadmap can be considered a first and important step towards establishing a common and empirically valid theory for developing smart city strategies in this type of urban area, because it provides useful knowledge in the consideration of other similar initiatives as well as a possible conceptual framework for future comparative research and theory building.