Egypt’s Regional Innovation Capacity Disparities and New Smart City Prospects: A Quantitative Analysis

Abstract

This study evaluates the innovation capacity of Egypt’s governorates to identify their potential for developing smart cities as innovation hubs. Smart cities represent essential instruments for tackling complicated urban issues like environmental degradation, regional economic disparities, and rapid urbanization. In the framework of Egypt Vision 2030, the establishment of fourteen fourth-generation smart cities is seen as an essential initiative to promote balanced, innovation-driven regional development. However, the absence of a thorough assessment of regional innovation capabilities during the planning phase poses significant concerns regarding the viability of attaining these objectives. A quantitative approach is employed to address this research gap, utilizing a composite Regional Innovation Capacity Index (RICI) as well as conducting cluster analysis and spatial autocorrelation analysis to assess the 27 governorates’ innovation capacities. The findings show significant gaps in innovation capacity among regions, with notable variances in knowledge creation, knowledge utilization, and supportive infrastructure. The findings demonstrate that new smart cities have been developed in some governorates with limited innovation capacity, while high-capacity governorates remain underutilized. These disparities underscore the need for specific policy actions to strengthen innovation ecosystems in lagging regions. The study offers actionable insights on how to match regional innovation capacities with Egypt’s smart city development policy.