Abstract
The main interest of this paper is to analyze the gap between an existing city and its future vision set in the strategy, with a focus on the transition path towards becoming a Smart City. For the analyses, we used the example of Tallinn, a middle-sized European capital city acknowledged in innovation reports as a good example of a Smart City development. This is a qualitative case study with data based on the Tallinn 2035 strategy document and on the interviews conducted with city officials. We mapped the current situation in regard to the four Smart City strategies dichotomies framework in order to understand if and how the future vision of Tallinn differs from the present. The results indicate that the current direction deviates in several ways from the future vision set in the strategy, and that to be able to move towards the vision, strategic changes are needed. With this paper we hope to add some insights to the literature about the knowledge gap between Smart City theory and implementation from the perspective of a present situation versus long-term strategy.
Highlights
As many authors have argued [1,2,3], there exists a knowledge gap between Smart City (SC) theory and implementation that is well worth further investigation, and this is what we aim to do in this article, using the city of Tallinn as an example
We aim to give an overview of the current situation in Tallinn from the perspective of city officials and analyze the gap between the current situation and the vision of the smart and sustainable city that was set in the Tallinn 2035 strategy document
Many researchers have contributed to the definition of a Smart City in the extensive literature published on the subject, but still there is no universal definition of a Smart City [19,20,21]
Summary
As many authors have argued [1,2,3], there exists a knowledge gap between Smart City (SC) theory and implementation that is well worth further investigation, and this is what we aim to do in this article, using the city of Tallinn as an example. Several explanations have been brought out as potential reasons for the implementation gap, e.g., overly ambitious visions and unrealistic goals as well as the reluctance of the city government to go along with the changes [4,5,6]. Ahvenniemi and Huovila [7] add as one potential reason the fact that most of the research about smart cities has been done by researchers with the very limited involvement of city government officials. We aim to give an overview of the current situation in Tallinn from the perspective of city officials and analyze the gap between the current situation and the vision of the smart and sustainable city that was set in the Tallinn 2035 strategy document. It is plausible to believe that the literature about the best SC strategies will keep on growing
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