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2 BACKGROUND
2.1 Smart
The word "smart" has been treated as an adjective,
instrumental concept, or a normative concept (Höjer
and Wangel, 2015). As an adjective, smart had
several meanings in Oxford and Merriam-Webster
dictionaries, such as “mentally alert”, “very good at
learning or thinking about things”, “showing
intelligence”, “knowledgeable”, and “programmed so
as to be capable of some independent action”. These
meanings apply for persons, objects, or places. A
smart person is interpreted as either a mentally
intelligent and alert or using ICT.
As an instrumental concept, smart means creating
“products, services and product-service systems in
which ICT play a major role” (Höjer and Wangel,
2015), and this concept is more focused on the means,
and not the final outcome. As ICT started to reshape
our society and “the way we interact with our friends,
communities, transportation modalities, homes,
offices, and even our bodies” nowadays, smart word
is often related to the use of ICT that provides a level
of intelligence and coordination of information
around us through sensor-based technology
(Stimmel, 2015, p.6). However, using a smart phone
without being connected to the Internet and
interconnected with other mobile devices and/or
computers does not mean any smartness; “the novelty
is thus not so much the individual technologies,
products or services but the interconnection and the
synchronization of these and the systems they
include, so that they work in concerted action.”
(Höjer and Wangel, 2015).
Hence, a smart object (e.g., smart phone) is
programmed to act autonomously and intelligently by
being connected and interconnected with other
objects. A smart place, either a city or a building, is
often described as being capable of managing its
resources intelligently, and it is often based on the
notion of technologically-interconnectedness (i.e.,
IoT) (Bonomi et al., 2014; Deloitte, 2015).
Contrarily, smart as a normative concept is
focused more on the desired outcome mirrored in the
efforts to improve (Höjer and Wangel, 2015).
Accordingly, smartness is determined by achieving
an intended outcome as specified priori. Doran (1981)
has set SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable,
Relevant, and Time-bound) criteria for writing
management's goals. SMART criteria model suggests
that a goal should be (1) Specific: precisely defined,
(2) Measurable: progress towards the goal can be
measured, (3) Achievable: realistic and attainable
within constraints of available resources, knowledge,
and timeframe, (4) Relevant: bring the desired social,
economic, or environments outcomes, and (5) Time-
bound: have clearly stated deadlines.
To conclude, the word smart is interpreted
differently (i.e., intelligent, ICT-supported, outcome,
or criteria) and at different levels (i.e., vocabulary,
concept, and model). This has to do with the context
(i.e., persons and their use of ICT, places managing
their resources intelligently, and objects and their
autonomy and interconnectedness).
2.2 Sustainability, Sustainable
Development, and Sustainable
Cities
The word “sustainable development” emerged in the
1980s to include various aspects (i.e., economic,
urban, rural, industrial, agricultural, technological)
(Hembd and Silberstein, 2011). Then, sustainable
development was defined by the World Commission
on Environment and Development as (Butlin, 1987):
“Sustainable development is development that meets
the needs of the present without compromising the
ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”
There have been research efforts to identify indicators
for sustainable development employed in Europe,
which include socioeconomic development, social
inclusion, demographic changes, public health,
climate change and energy, sustainable consumption
and production, natural resources, sustainable
transport, good governance, and global partnership
(Steurer and Hametner, 2013). Sustainable
development goals are deemed to be interconnected
(Le Blanc, 2015) and require an integration of
thinking across all sectors of the city and providing
incentives for collaboration between national and
international organizations as well as citizens to
participate in the sustainable development decision-
making, policy-making, and governance (Dassen et
al., 2013; Martin et al., 2014).
In dictionaries, the word “sustainability”, means
the ability to be used without being completely used
up or destroyed. Sustainability, as a concept, has been
used at the corporate-level (Baumgartner and Ebner,
2010), industry-level (Erol et al., 2009), and
community-level (Dempsey et al., 2011). Sustainable
communities are defined as “places where people
want to live and work, now and in the future. They
meet the diverse needs of existing and future
residents, are sensitive to their environment, and
contribute to a high quality of life. They are safe and
inclusive, well planned, built and run, and offer
equality of opportunity and good services for all”
Smart Cities, Sustainable Cities, or Both? - A Critical Review and Synthesis of Success and Failure Factors
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