Smart City: An Information-Analytical Development Model (The Case of the Visegrad Region)

The assessments of a city's level of smartness in global indices are a relatively new area of investigation. It is useful in encouraging a rethinking of urban digital strategies, although different approaches to global smart city rankings are subject to criticism. The paper highlights the methodological features of constructing the Smart City Index (SCI) from IMD (International Institute for Management Development), based on residents’ assessments, their satisfaction with electronic services, and perception of the priority of urban infrastructure areas. The case of the Central European cities of the Visegrad region (Prague/Czech Republic, Budapest/Hungary, Bratislava/Slovakia, Warsaw and Krakow/Poland) was chosen as the basis for the in-depth analysis. The architectonics, the internal system of constructing and calculating city rankings by SCI, is analysed. A comparative analysis of technology indicators (e-services) in five cities of the Visegrad region, presented in the SCI, showed the smart features of each city. The progressive and regressive trends in the dynamics of smartness of Visegrad region cities were identified in five urban spheres indicated in the Index: Government, Activity, Health and Safety, Mobility, and Opportunities. This also made it possible to identify certain methodological gap in the SCI in establishing interdependencies between data on residents’ perception of the priority of areas of life in a particular city and the level of satisfaction of residents with electronic services. In particular, the structural indicators "affordable housing" and "green spaces" are not supported by e-services. The research aims to bridge this methodological gap by proposing a model for evaluating e-service according to the degree of coverage of life spheres in the city. The application of project, cross-sectoral, and systemic approaches made it possible to develop basic models for assessing the value of e-services. These models can be implemented by municipalities to assess and monitor e-services, as well as to select IT projects and elaborate strategies for smart sustainable city development.