Upscaling Smart-City Initiatives: A Systematic Review and A Research Agenda

Résumé 0

Experiments with smart cities have proliferated in recent years, and the issue of upscaling these initiatives has become crucial for public authorities. Despite its importance, the literature barely addresses this issue, especially in public management. Our systematic review aims to uncover factors influencing the scalability and transferability of smart-city experiments to respond to the following research question: How can smart-city initiatives be upscaled to ensure sustainable growth and value creation? We found that digital innovation plays a pivotal role in expanding local initiatives. However, managing scalable and transferable smart-city projects remains under debate. An integrative framework is proposed, synthesizing current research and suggesting new directions in public management. It is designed to facilitate a better understanding of how to manage the upscaling and to transfer smart-city initiatives across diverse urban environments, addressing the pressing need for a coherent approach in this rapidly evolving field. JEL Code: M000.