Smart Cities in the Global Context: Geographical Analyses of Regional Differentiations

Abstract

The increasing urbanisation and technological advancements have driven the global adoption of smart city initiatives, yet regional differences persist due to economic, social, and technological disparities. Despite the numerous studies on smart cities, there remains a research gap in comprehensive global analyses exploring regional differentiations in smart city development. This study aims to examine how smart cities differentiate, especially through associations between regions and smart city dimensions. This study utilises data from the IMD Smart City Index 2023 and applies a multi-step methodology based on the United Nations’ geographic regions, employing geographical and statistical analyses. The findings reveal distinct regional differentiations, highlighting a clear Global North–South divide and notable subregional differentiations, including the North–South divide in the Americas and the East–West divide in Asia. The correlation analysis demonstrates significant relationships between smart city dimensions, with smart mobility and smart living exhibiting the highest association. The correspondence analysis further identifies four major regional concentration groups, notably the Global North, with equi-distant associations with all dimensions, and Asia, which is closely linked to smart governance. The findings confirm that smart city development is not uniform and is shaped by regional socio-economic and technological conditions and emphasises the need for context-dependent regional policies.