From Nettetal to Hamburg

Another important goal is to boost digital participation. Smart city projects should benefit all population groups, regardless of age, technological affinity or place of residence. This involves ensuring access to services as well as active participation: Digital participation platforms should involve citizens more closely in urban decision-making processes and enable participatory urban life. In addition, digitalization is seen as a means of addressing demographic challenges by reducing the workload of administrative staff and freeing up capacity for other tasks.

The overarching goals of smart city projects in cities are wide-ranging, encompassing both economic and social dimensions. Despite differences, the focus is on three key areas: increasing efficiency, ensuring digital participation, and promoting cooperation.

The main goal is to modernize urban administration so that processes become faster and more efficient. Digital solutions make administrative processes simpler, faster and more citizen friendly. Online services such as document applications and citizen participation via the internet help reduce bureaucracy and improve access to municipal services.

Ideally, the administration should be available around the clock and offer many services completely online. Standardized digital identities simplify access and enable barrier-free contact between citizens and the administration.

The interviewees also emphasize that it is not just a matter of using new software or IT systems. Rather, it is a comprehensive transformation process that aims to improve the way the entire administration works. The stated goal of cities and towns is not only to save costs, but also to improve the quality of service for citizens and make better use of existing administrative resources.

The focus on efficiency behind many smart city projects goes beyond the administrative level. Projects also aim to achieve smart resource management and promote sustainability. Energy efficiency and climate protection are important considerations in new projects. One example of this is smart power grids: They monitor a city or town’s power consumption in real time and adjust power supply accordingly. This allows energy to be used in a more targeted and demand-oriented manner.

Smart city projects also aim to create better information bases for decision-making. With the help of collected data and digital tools, a smart city should contribute to solving problems more quickly and effectively. For example, sensors or cameras are used to analyze traffic flow in a city so that infrastructure can then be improved based on the data collected. At the same time, the interviewees warned against implementing projects solely for reasons of prestige – smart city projects should always have a specific benefit and be geared towards evident needs.

Many smart city projects rely heavily on cooperation. Cities want to become more attractive to businesses and skilled workers. Modern structures and digitalization also form the basis for this. Therefore, the goal of smart city projects is also to improve internal cooperation between authorities and facilitate cooperation with external partners. Cooperation with companies and research institutions is essential for cities, as their expertise helps new ideas progress more quickly. The importance and usefulness of interaction with other towns and cities is also emphasized, as they provide opportunities to learn from and support each other.

With regard to the technological difficulties that cities encounter in smart city projects, data protection is one of the biggest challenges. Big data and cloud solutions are increasingly being used in city administrations, but they must meet strict data protection requirements. In addition, citizens and authorities expect a high level of data security. Local authorities consider this to be sensible, but it makes it difficult for them to introduce new technologies quickly. It is also proving to be challenging to link old IT systems with new digital solutions. These compatibility problems at technological interfaces are an obstacle to the implementation of smart projects for many administrations.

Another obstacle for local authorities is financing. Although there are various subsidies available for smart city projects, it is difficult to secure these funds for the long term. Many local authorities are therefore only pushing ahead gradually with (digitalization) projects because they cannot afford all the necessary investments at once.

Smaller cities and towns in particular struggle with high expenditures and therefore use ­partnerships between the public sector and private companies to finance larger projects. Reliable planning over several years and financial security are therefore key prerequisites for a smart city.

On a social level, cities see the need to integrate their citizens into technological change. However, some social groups are more skeptical about digital solutions than others or have difficulty dealing with new technologies. One possible consequence of these differing affinities is a digital divide between population groups. Cities want to avoid this divide.

But even within city administrations, acceptance issues regarding new technologies can be an obstacle. This is because some administrative staff are skeptical about new digital systems. The background to this is usually fear of losing their jobs or having to take on other tasks. To address these concerns, some cities and towns are initiating internal discussions and training sessions to alleviate fears and prepare employees for new systems.

Political hurdles are also among the factors limiting smart cities. In some cases, there is criticism of the lack of political support from the “top”: If the federal government does not get involved, there will inevitably be no integrated strategy for digitalization. But support at the highest municipal level is also important, because a defined smart city roadmap is needed that can be pursued in cities and towns over the long term. Slow political processes consistently delay smart projects because they cannot keep pace with the rapid developments in technology.

Legal hurdles such as public procurement law and the complexity of federal structures cause additional delays, since local authorities are unable to respond faster to new solutions. In many cases, cities need to revise not only ­technological but also legal frameworks to enable the ­implementation of smart city technologies. Clear legal requirements and reliable political support are therefore essential to advance the ­(digital) transformation of cities and towns.

Another important approach to implementing smart city projects is open communication with citizens. The introduction of digital solutions and technologies will not succeed unless the population is not only involved, but also actively integrated into the development and design of the digital transformation.

The interviews emphasize that citizens are seen as co-creators and not merely recipients of digital services. Therefore, digital inclusion and the promotion of digital literacy – some cities use so-called “digital guides” for this purpose – play an essential role in involving the entire population in the smart city process.

Digital participation platforms enable citizens to express their opinions and actively participate in shaping their cities. In addition, cities can use digital platforms to provide transparent information about projects they are planning.

The active participation of city residents in shaping digital change is also seen as adding social value if it results in citizens identifying more strongly with their city.

In order to implement smart city projects, local authorities cooperate with external partners, in particular start-ups, research institutions and other towns and cities. Several interviews show clearly that cities which do not feel confident about technological change on their own rely on external expertise. Smaller cities and towns in particular, which do not have the necessary resources for their own research and development, resort to partnerships in order to implement digitalization in their administrations and infrastructures.

It is reported that university collaborations with innovation labs or technical institutions contribute significantly to developing local solutions for specific needs and responding more quickly to new developments. These partnerships promote knowledge exchange and enable faster implementation of ideas that are necessary for transformation.

Another important lesson learned by cities when working with external partners is that not every idea or new project has to be conceived from scratch. Exchanging ideas with other local authorities or external partners has proven to be beneficial: Existing programs and ready-made solutions can be adopted, adapted and combined to leverage synergies.

In addition to cooperating with external partners, many cities are relying on pilot projects that serve as testing grounds for new technologies and concepts. Instead of tackling large, complex projects all at once, cities prefer to start with smaller, more manageable initiatives. These test projects enable them to identify and correct errors early on and refine the projects before rolling them out across the board.

Autonomous vehicles in public transport and digital citizen portals serve as model projects in cities. They offer citizens the opportunity to familiarize themselves with the new technology. This builds trust and, at the same time, provides valuable experience for future projects.

In addition to concrete measures, the interviews often emphasize the importance of a long-term vision. The road to a smart city requires not only short-term projects, but also a sustainable framework that supports change in the long term. In addition, an integrated strategy is needed that encompasses not only technological innovations, but also takes into account the social and cultural aspects of (digital) transformation.

In addition, economic cooperation is considered crucial for the long-term implementation of smart city initiatives. Private-public partnerships – i.e., cooperation between the public sector and private companies – play an important role in this context. They promote innovation and at the same time relieve the burden on the municipal budget through financial participation. This type of cooperation is seen as a prerequisite for the successful implementation of smart cities in the coming years.