Title
Smart cities as a source for entrepreneurial opportunities: Evidence for Spain
Date Issued
01 November 2019
Access level
metadata only access
Resource Type
journal article
Author(s)
University of Castilla-La Mancha
Publisher(s)
Elsevier Inc.
Abstract
In the context of economic crisis, it is necessary to drive changes in the productive model towards a smart society. Particularly in urban areas, the Smart City movement has become an agent for change to help fight the loss of competitiveness and unemployment. Literature review shows that there is little regarding the generation of knowledge and entrepreneurial activity in the context of a smart city and in Spain in particular. This study contributes to filling this gap. We start by identifying the potential sources of entrepreneurial opportunities that a medium-sized smart city may offer based on the Knowledge Spillover Theory of Entrepreneurship. We then provide empirical evidence that the Smart City label has positively influenced the effective creation of new businesses. To this end, we examine 44 Spanish Smart City initiatives included and classified in the Smart City Index according to their smartness level. Our results confirm the relation between the Smart City label and the entrepreneurship rate. Moreover, they allow us to present some relevant considerations and implications concerning the maturing process of Smart City initiatives. These considerations are of particular interest for those agents involved in the smart city entrepreneurial ecosystem.
Volume
148
Language
English
OCDE Knowledge area
Ingeniería de sistemas y comunicaciones
Subjects
Scopus EID
2-s2.0-85071833725
Source
Technological Forecasting and Social Change
ISSN of the container
00401625
Sponsor(s)
Our study is particularly motivated by the following scenario. In 2010, the European Union defined the smart city as being based on strengthening innovation and investment in information and communication technologies (ICT) services. At that time, the Spanish economy was going through difficult times. During the crisis, the Spanish financial system suffered heavily from the excesses of the so-called property bubble, with a subsequent reduction in investment in new initiatives. During this period, many cities throughout Spain faced severe budget cuts, and the private sector struggled for funding. Nonetheless, many smart city initiatives emerge as an opportunity for exploring new horizons.
Sources of information:
Directorio de Producción Científica
Scopus