The role of demographics in cities

Abstract

In general, most smart city researchers agree that population growth is driving the need for smart cities but there is very limited, if any, conceptual and empirical cases that explain the role of demographics (and ageing) as a driver of smart cities and its effect on future urban healthcare costs. This research paper proposes a new conceptual framework that incorporates demographics into the most common smart city concepts (e.g. Giffinger's) as a driver for populations' change in cities. The main research question is the following: how does cities getting older or younger affect healthcare costs and policies. This conceptual framework is validated in the City of Tallinn by proposing a conceptual model for estimating and predicting healthcare costs in urban areas.