# Smart City Governance in Developing Countries: A Systematic Literature Review

**Authors:** Si Ying Tan, Araz Taeihagh  
**arXiv:** [2001.10173](https://arxiv.org/abs/2001.10173)  
**Date:** 2020-01-28  
**Summary page:** https://www.summarizepaper.com/en/arxiv-id/2001.10173v1/

## Key points

- Smart cities proposed as solution to population pressures and increasing demand for services in developing countries
- Financial costs, informal economies, and governance challenges hindering smart city initiatives
- Systematic literature review examines state of smart city development in developing countries
- Technology-enabled smart cities require socioeconomic, human, legal, and regulatory reforms
- Governments need to prioritize basic infrastructure needs, generate revenue, establish clear regulatory frameworks, develop human capital, ensure digital inclusivity, and promote environmental sustainability
- Supportive ecosystem encouraging citizen participation, nurturing start-ups, and fostering public-private partnerships crucial for realizing smart cities in developing countries
- Comprehensive reforms needed to successfully implement smart city initiatives in developing nations

## Summary

Smart cities that utilize digital technologies have been proposed as a solution to the population pressures and increasing demand for services and infrastructure in developing countries. However, the financial costs of maintaining infrastructure, the size of informal economies, and governance challenges are hindering the realization of smart city initiatives. This systematic literature review examines the state of smart city development in developing countries, focusing on conceptualizations, motivations, drivers, and barriers. The review analyzed 56 studies from a pool of 3928 social sciences literature using thematic synthesis and analysis. The findings highlight that technology-enabled smart cities in developing countries can only be achieved through concurrent socioeconomic, human, legal, and regulatory reforms. Governments need to prioritize fulfilling citizens' basic infrastructure needs, generating more revenue, establishing clear regulatory frameworks to mitigate technological risks, developing human capital, ensuring digital inclusivity, and promoting environmental sustainability. Additionally, creating a supportive ecosystem that encourages citizen participation; nurtures start-ups; and fosters public-private partnerships is crucial for realizing the vision of smart cities in developing countries. This study emphasizes the importance of addressing various challenges and implementing comprehensive reforms to successfully implement smart city initiatives in developing nations.