Instituto de Estudios Políticos y Derecho Público "Dr. Humberto J. La Roche"
de la Facultad de Ciencias Jurídicas y Políticas de la Universidad del Zulia
Maracaibo, Venezuela
Esta publicación cientíca en formato digital es continuidad de la revista impresa
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197402ZU34
ppi 201502ZU4645
Vol.40 N° 73
Julio
Diciembre
2022
Recibido el 01/04/2022 Aceptado el 13/06/2022
ISSN 0798- 1406 ~ De pó si to le gal pp 198502ZU132
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Vol. 40, Nº 73 (2022), 233-250
IEPDP-Facultad de Ciencias Jurídicas y Políticas - LUZ
Infrastructural Development of Smart
Cities as the Background of Digital
Transformation of Territorial Units
DOI: https://doi.org/10.46398/cuestpol.4073.11
Iryna Gryshchenko *
Vitalii Kruhlov **
Oksana Lypchuk ***
Ivanna Lomaka ****
Yuliia Kobets *****
Abstract
The Interoperability, continuous data and technology ow
are core requirements of a proper smart city. Smart cities take
on the characteristics of innovative, competitive and attractive
megalopolises, which is strategically important for residents
and investors. The aim of the article was to identify the current
state and current issues of the Smart City concept implementation in
Ukraine in the context of the experience of developed countries. The main
methodological tools included the observation, statistical and comparative
analysis. The study found that the eective development of digital
transformation of territorial units in Ukraine requires focusing on certain
factors during the implementation of the Smart City concept. Such factors
conditionally include: technology-based infrastructure; environmental
comments; constructive level of public transport; progressive city plans;
opportunities for citizens to use appropriate resources. It was found
reasonable to introduce infrastructural development of smart cities in
Ukraine as a foundation of digital transformation of territorial units. Smart
* Doctor of Public Administration, Associate Professor at the Department of Public Administration and
Innovation Management National University of Life and Environmental Sciences of Ukraine, 03041,
Kyiv, Ukraine. ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8191-1177
** Doctor of Public Administration, Associate Professor at the Department of Management and Public
Administration, Faculty of Information Technology, Engineering and Management, Kharkiv National
University of Civil Engineering and Architecture, 61002, Kharkiv, Ukraine. ORCID ID: https://orcid.
org/0000-0002-7228-8635
*** PhD in Political Sciences, Assocciate Professor at the Department of Political Science, Faculty of
History, Politology and International Relations, Vasyl Stefanyk Precarpathian National University,
76025, Ivano-Frankivsk, Ukraine. ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1880-6761
**** PhD in Political Sciences, Assocciate Professor at the Department of Political Science, Faculty of
History, Politology and International Relations, Vasyl Stefanyk Precarpathian National University,
76025, Ivano-Frankivsk, Ukraine. ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5616-7016
***** PhD in Political Sciences, Associate Professor at the Department of Political Institutions and Processes,
Faculty of History, Politology and International Relations, Vasyl Stefanyk Precarpathian National
University, 76025, Ivano-Frankivsk, Ukraine. ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9492-6119
234
Iryna Gryshchenko, Vitalii Kruhlov, Oksana Lypchuk, Ivanna Lomaka y Yuliia Kobets
Infrastructural Development of Smart Cities as the Background of Digital Transformation of
Territorial Units
Cities were substantiated as an important tool for eective prevention and
control of the pandemic without the introduction of restriction policies. A
comparative analysis of the practice of Ukraine and developed countries
in the implementation of infrastructural development of Smart Cities is a
promising area of further research.
Keywords: cybersecurity; digitalization; innovative technologies;
internet of Things; smart city.
El Desarrollo Infraestructural de las Ciudades
Inteligentes como Contexto de la Transformación Digital
de las Unidades Territoriales
Resumen
Las ciudades inteligentes asumen las características de megalópolis
innovadoras, competitivas y atractivas, lo cual es estratégicamente
importante para residentes e inversores. El objetivo del artículo fue
identicar el estado actual y los problemas de la implementación del
concepto Smart City en Ucrania en el contexto de la experiencia de los países
desarrollados. Las principales herramientas metodológicas incluyeron la
observación, el análisis estadístico y comparativo. El estudio encontró que el
desarrollo efectivo de la transformación digital de las unidades territoriales
requiere centrarse en ciertos factores durante la implementación del
concepto de Ciudad Inteligente. Dichos factores incluyen condicionalmente:
infraestructura basada en tecnología; comentarios ambientales; nivel
constructivo del transporte público; planes urbanos progresistas, y;
oportunidades para que los ciudadanos utilicen los recursos apropiados. Se
consideró razonable introducir el desarrollo de infraestructura de ciudades
inteligentes como base de la transformación digital de las unidades
territoriales. Se concluye que las Ciudades Inteligentes se fundamentaron
como una herramienta importante para la prevención y el control efectivos
de la pandemia sin la introducción de políticas de restricción. Un análisis
comparativo de la práctica de Ucrania y los países desarrollados en la
implementación del desarrollo de infraestructura de Smart Cities es un
área prometedora de investigación adicional.
Palabras clave: seguridad cibernética; digitalización; tecnologías
innovadoras; internet de las cosas; ciudad inteligente.
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Vol. 40 Nº 73 (2022): 233-250
Introduction
The COVID-19 pandemic has made the global population realize how
technology can improve current realities by keeping citizens healthy and
transforming the economy. COVID-19 urged digitalization and urban
innovation. The development of a regulatory framework, organizational
structure, approaches to citizen involvement and general ethical
considerations are currently required for taking relevant actions in cities
(Amankwah-Amoaha et al., 2021).
According to 2018 scientic data, more than 50% of the world population
lived in cities, and this gure is expected to exceed 70% by 2050 (Ritchie
and Roser, 2018). Covering about 1% of the land area, cities consume
75% of energy, 85% of resources and produce about 80% of the world’s
greenhouse gas emissions (Huang et al., 2021). The structural changes in
the world were driven by the fourth industrial revolution. Technological
changes, innovation and human capital were recognized by industrial
enterprises and small rms as the driving force of modern economic
and social transformations (Chung, 2021). Continuous urbanization of
cities can, however, lead to more serious environmental pressure, as well
as inconsistencies between supply and demand of resources (Fox and
Goodfellow, 2021). Digital transformation is conductive for many cities
on their way of becoming “smarter”, providing them with the opportunity
to improve digital processes, pursue climate-friendly goals, or raise the
standards of living of their citizens (Elberzhager et al., 2021).
Smart City theory and practice emerged in developed countries, where
the urban infrastructure was superior and which launched urbanization
earlier. Smart Cities evolved from the smart growth concept being part of
the New Urbanism movement in the United States in the 1980’s, and were
created through information technology (Hollands, 2020). They have begun
to use this technology in order to oer innovative solutions to urbanization
with the aim of sustainable development, as well as the protection of life
and the environment.
Smart City is currently dened as the favourable integration of information
technology (IT), social, human systems and business infrastructures to
generate a collective mind with the proper use of all available interconnected
information (Antwi-Afari et al., 2021). Optimization of urban functions
is the main goal of the Smart City. Smart Cities can be argued to bring
technology closer to people, integrate them into a new spatial system of
many-sided, multi-actor and multi-level local government (Echebarria et
al., 2021). The level of relations between the public and private sectors
measures the performance of Smart City. Besides, the role of data analytics
being part of the Smart City structures remains very important in nding
errors and ways to eliminate them.
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Iryna Gryshchenko, Vitalii Kruhlov, Oksana Lypchuk, Ivanna Lomaka y Yuliia Kobets
Infrastructural Development of Smart Cities as the Background of Digital Transformation of
Territorial Units
There is no doubt that Smart Cities, like every innovation, have certain
drawbacks. These technologies can also boost the territorial digital gap,
posing risks of disintegration of communities in some small remote
settlements. Besides, there is a threat that the economy and the population
will become even more vulnerable to cyber-attacks. In Ukraine, the
digitalization process is slow, Smart Cities projects are point-like (mostly in
megalopolises), smart ideas are still largely dened as populist (Chernova,
2021). The chosen subject matter of the article in Ukraine and the post-Soviet
space is still highly controversial. Therefore, the experience of the states that
have become leaders in this aspect requires additional comparative analysis
to substantiate the appropriateness of transformations (Gryshchenko et al.,
2021).
In view of the above, the aim of the article was to identify the current state
and current issues of the Smart Cities concept implementation in Ukraine
in the context of the experience of other countries. The aim provided for the
following objectives:
1) identify the current state and main problems of the infrastructural
development of Smart Cities in Ukraine;
2) identify the current state of digital transformation of territorial units
in a number of countries and nd out the possible implementation of
relevant achievements in order to develop the Smart Cities concept
in Ukraine.
1. Literature Review
The representatives of theory and practice currently pay considerable
attention to the study of the concept of Smart City in dierent jurisdictions.
The collective work of Huang et al. (2021) deals with the basic problems
and risks of the Smart City concept. The scholars successfully substantiated
the prospects of digitalization in the global aspect, as well as in the EU and
China in terms of the introduction of Smart Cities.
Hollands (2020) studies the structural components of the Smart City, in
which the author denes the nature and content of the popularized Smart
City concept. Fox and Goodfellow (2021) cover management competencies
promoting the creation and development of Smart Cities. Scholars also
emphasize the complex implications of “late urbanization” and their impact
on the environment. Giurida (2021) considered the Smart Cities concept
from the sustainable development perspective. The scholar’s ndings
allowed considering the development of Smart Cities in terms of the UN
Global Goals.
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Vol. 40 Nº 73 (2022): 233-250
A comprehensive work by Muraev (2021) entitled Organizational and
Informational Support for the Development of the Strategy of Smart Cities
of Ukraine in the Digital Economy had a signicant impact on the author’s
opinion in the article.
The value and signicance of the ndings obtained by these researchers
is unconditional, but it should be noted that the theoretical, organizational
and methodological issues relating not only to the implementation of Smart
Cities but also its information support remain unresolved in the current
context of digitalization.
2. Methods
The outlined range of issues were covered in the article through a step-
by-step scientic research with eective testing of methodological tools.
The results of each stage are reected in the appropriate parts of research
and the author’s substantiated conclusions. Moreover, the scientic novelty
of the study was previously outlined by the doctrine representatives only in
part, which indicates that modern scientic analysis in this area is topical.
Figure 1 presents the research procedure.
Figure 1: Research procedure.
Source: Authors.
238
Iryna Gryshchenko, Vitalii Kruhlov, Oksana Lypchuk, Ivanna Lomaka y Yuliia Kobets
Infrastructural Development of Smart Cities as the Background of Digital Transformation of
Territorial Units
The theoretical background of the study is based on a systemic and
operational approach, the information society concept. The systemic
approach was used to reveal the features of digitalization of public
relations and management system, to identify the aim, as well as the actors
implementing these innovations, their functions and relationships with
participants. The Smart City concept implementation is also considered
from the perspective of a systematic approach — as an integrated
direction of responsible and involved actors to achieve a common goal —
improving the quality of life of urban residents and achieving sustainable
functioning of the cities. The activity approach was applied to identify the
peculiarities of the eorts of the subjects of the digitalization process and
the implementation of the Smart City project, the regulatory, personnel,
organizational and nancial support for such activities.
The objectives set in the article were fullled on the basis of such
research methods as analysis of theoretical and legal documents, methods
of observation, statistical and comparative analysis. A study was conducted
with the involvement of secondary data analysis and document analysis.
The architecture and tools of Smart Cities in dierent countries were
revealed through the observation and comparative analysis. Besides,
these methodological tools were useful in outlining the leading risks and
prospects of digital innovation in the context of intensifying urbanization
and globalization in Ukraine. The method of statistical analysis was of
particular importance for the author’s scientic research. This method
was used both in sampling of leading countries with a positive practice of
implementing the Smart City concept and in the analysis of the eectiveness
of relevant innovations.
The information background of the study includes statistical data,
analytical reports and open data on the results of the implementation of
urbanization projects of the Smart City urban environment by public
authorities of dierent levels and jurisdictions, as well as legal documents
of dierent states and comprehensive research of scholars in this area. A
total of 41 sources were reviewed and taken into account in the work.
3. Results
In 2015, the United Nations adopted the Sustainable Development
Goals, also known as the Global Goals, as a general call for action to
eradicate poverty, protect the planet and ensure well-being of people by
2030 (United Nations Development Programme, 2015). In this context,
sustainable urban development is provided through creating career and
business opportunities, safe and aordable housing, and building up
sustainable societies and economies. According to statistical forecasts, the
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Vol. 40 Nº 73 (2022): 233-250
cost of technological innovation under the Smart Cities Initiative in the
world will more than double between 2018 and 2023, increasing from $ 81
milliard in 2018 to $ 189.5 milliard in 2023 (Statista, 2020).
The improvement of Smart Cities is supported by the state political
support as an important external driving force. The implementation of
the Smart City concepts currently involves a number of stages. First,
it is necessary to establish a smart physical infrastructure by grouping
the available specic technological solutions: smart home, smart
transport, smart energy, smart housing management system, smart waste
management, smart education, smart health care system and others. This
shall be followed by the establishment of the primary digital infrastructure,
which includes common standards and protocols that can provide device
compatibility. The next step is the creation of digital platforms by merging
smart physical and digital infrastructure. The nal stage is the combination
of the data from individual vertical digital platforms into a horizontal
integrated digital platform — the Digital City Twin (Figure 2).
Figure 2: Gradual cycle of processes of implementation of the
Smart City concepts
Source: Authors.
Technology is the main driving force of municipal development.
Smart Cities provide connected solutions to the public through a variety
of software, user interfaces, and communication networks, as well as the
Internet of Things (IoT). IoT is the most important of the listed tools, which
is a network of connected devices for communication and data sharing. In
240
Iryna Gryshchenko, Vitalii Kruhlov, Oksana Lypchuk, Ivanna Lomaka y Yuliia Kobets
Infrastructural Development of Smart Cities as the Background of Digital Transformation of
Territorial Units
addition to the IoT solutions, Smart Cities also involve such technologies
as: application programming interfaces (APIs); articial intelligence (II);
cloud computing services; monitoring panels; machine learning; machine-
to-machine communication (M2M); 3D printing; mesh networks. Cities
obtain valuable information from large data sets collected from various
sources through Big Data. Smart Cities perform a series of consistent
actions in order to improve the quality of life and promote economic growth
through a network of connected IoT devices and other technologies.
In 2021, the European Parliament and the Council of Europe launched the
Digital Europe Programme as part of the 2021-2027 Multiannual Financial
Framework (MFF) in order to promote digitalization in the EU (European
Parliament and Council of Europe, 2021). The programme intends to
eliminate the gap between research in the eld of digital technologies
and their introduction to the market, the introduction of digital solutions
for cities. For example, Germany has been implementing the industry
4.0 Initiative (European Commission, 2017) designed for the research
and initiatives related to IoT technologies and the Smart Manufacturing
concept. The annual Smart City Index is calculated by the Institute for
Management Development (IMD, 2021) in Lausanne, Switzerland, and the
Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD). The report ranks
118 cities around the world based on citizens’ perceptions of how technology
can improve their lives, as well as economic and social data from the UN
Human Development Index (HDI).
The IMD-SUTD Smart City Index (SCI) measures residents’ perceptions
of the structures and technological software solutions available in their
community in the context of its infrastructure. In SCI, Smart City describes
the urban environment where technologies are used to increase the benets
and reduce the negative aspects of urbanization. The perception of 120
people in each city is randomly selected when evaluating the cities of the
world. SCI is based on more than 12,000 surveys, there are 40 questions
in each survey. The main part (36 questions) is equally divided between
two factors: structures that include existing urban infrastructure, and
technologies that describe the technological conditions and services
available to residents. There are also three other questions to evaluate
attitudes towards the use of personal data, identity recognition and general
condence in the city authorities.
The overall ranking of the city corresponds to the above breakdown
and is related to the overall score of the city. The results of the 2021
Smart City Index (IMD, 2021) showed that citizens’ perceptions of how
technology helps solve urban problems have been strongly inuenced by
the pandemic and the accelerating digital transformation. According to the
report, aordable housing is a major problem in cities around the world.
Environmental problems are more acute in richer cities, while access to
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Vol. 40 Nº 73 (2022): 233-250
better quality air and health services has also become a priority around the
world in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic.
It is also noted in the report that the pandemic revealed the innovative
potential of Smart Cities to address issues such as the distribution of
protective equipment, the use of health facilities and vaccination campaigns,
contact tracking compared to central governments. Singapore tops the list
of cities in the world that most actively use the technology, as well as in
terms of environmental, medical and social issues. Table 1 demonstrates
the top ten cities in the Smart Cities Index. These are all cities that, have
eectively coped with the Covid-19 crisis and will be able to become resilient
quickly according to their residents.
Table 1. 2021 Smart City Index leaders
Item
No.
City name “Technologies”
factor
“Structures”
factor
1. Singapore ААА ААА
2. Zurich (Switzerland) А ААА
3. Oslo (Norway) А ААА
4. Taipei (Taiwan) А А
5. Lausanne (Switzerland) А ААА
6. Helsinki (Finland) А АА
7. Copenhagen (Denmark) А АА
8. Geneva (Switzerland) А АА
9. New Zealand А А
10. Bilbao (Spain) ВВВ А
Source: IMD (2021).
Since the launch of the Smart Nation initiative in 2014, Singapore has
introduced a wide range of smart technologies in both the public and private
sectors. Furthermore, Singapore announced its plans to create a new eco-
smart city, completely devoid of vehicles (Holland, 2021).
The street lighting project became important for Zurich. The city
presented a series of streetlights that adapted to the trac level with
sensors to increase or decrease the brightness. The project saved up to 70%
of electricity (Von Hunnius, 2019).
242
Iryna Gryshchenko, Vitalii Kruhlov, Oksana Lypchuk, Ivanna Lomaka y Yuliia Kobets
Infrastructural Development of Smart Cities as the Background of Digital Transformation of
Territorial Units
Helsinki has set the goal of achieving zero carbon emissions by 2035.
The city managed to reduce emissions by 27% back in 2017 compared to
1990 (Sustain Europe, 2019). Another goal of Helsinki is to reduce road
emissions by 69% by 2035 through such measures as converting the entire
city bus eet to electricity and expanding the metro network and charging
networks for electric vehicles (Lai, 2021).
Launched in June 2019, the G20 Global Smart Cities Alliance on
Technology Governance brings together municipal, regional and national
governments, private sector partners and urban residents around a
common set of principles for the responsible and ethical use of Smart Cities
technologies (World Economic Forum, 2019). In 2020, the World Economic
Forum selected thirty-six cities in twenty-two countries and six continents
to develop a new global policy roadmap for Smart Cities (World Economic
Forum, 2020). This Global Smart Cities Alliance, which was established at
the Forum, commits member cities to adopting privacy policies, improving
broadband coverage, ensuring accountability for cybersecurity, enhancing
the openness of urban data and improving access to digital urban services
for people with disabilities and elderly people.
Policy experts and government ocials were interviewed in 2021 to
evaluate the implementation of a set of ve key policies identied by the G20
in 2020 (World Economic Forum, 2020). Almost all of the cities surveyed
have serious policy gaps related to Smart City technology management.
Compared to 2020, Kyiv has improved its performance in the Smart
City Index 2021 (IMD, 2021) and moved from 98th to 82nd place. Some
components of “smart” infrastructure are also being implemented in
Vinnytsia, Dnipro, Drohobych, Zhytomyr, Lviv, Mariupol, Kharkiv and
other cities. For example, the Kyiv Smart City Forum 2020 recognized
Kharkiv as the Best Digital City (Kharkiv City Council, 2020) due to the
introduction and active use of digital technologies. In particular, the online
platforms Portal of Electronic Services and Portal of Kharkiv, mobile
application My Kharkiv are currently operational (see Figure 3).
In turn, Ukraine has introduced regulations that can dene and lay the
foundation for the development of Smart Cities: The Law of Ukraine “On
the National Informatization Programme” (Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine,
1998); “On Personal Data Protection” (Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, 2010);
2021–2027 State Regional Development Strategy (Cabinet of Ministers of
Ukraine, 2020); Kyiv Smart City 2020 concept (Kyiv City Council, 2017)
and others. Ukraine, like other UN member states, has joined the global
sustainable development process (President of Ukraine, 2019). At the
same time, a number of problems that hinder the implementation of smart
infrastructure initiatives in Ukraine have been proved.
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Figure 3: Major problems in the implementation
of Smart Cities in Ukraine
Source: Chernova (2021).
The Ministry for Communities and Territories Development of Ukraine
is currently working on the creation of innovation infrastructure in the
regions to overcome a number of relevant problems. The 2021–2027
State Regional Development Strategy (Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine,
2020) provides for the introduction of innovative technologies into urban
development management systems based on the Smart City concept
as one of the objectives of regional policy. The digital transformation of
regions must be implemented through the tools of smart urban planning,
spatial planning and building innovative ecosystems. the Ministry for
Communities and Territories Development of Ukraine and the non-
prot British organization World Smart Cities Forum (WSCF) signed the
Memorandum of Cooperation on April 27, 2021 (Lviv Polytechnic National
University, 2021). The parties will jointly develop a strategic plan for Smart
Cities in Ukraine. Moreover, the Sustainable Cities Programme funded
by the International Finance Corporation’s (2021) in Ukraine provides
nancial and advisory support to the country’s growing cities.
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Iryna Gryshchenko, Vitalii Kruhlov, Oksana Lypchuk, Ivanna Lomaka y Yuliia Kobets
Infrastructural Development of Smart Cities as the Background of Digital Transformation of
Territorial Units
4. Discussion
It is apparent that building Smart Cities ultimately serves the needs
of the people, so it is reasonable to develop a comprehensive concept
oriented to the residents of settlements. Attention should be paid to the
relationship between cities and the environment in view of the need of cities
for sustainable development (Obringer and Nateghi, 2021). At the same
time, development should combine the available resources and sectoral
characteristics with regard to the real situation in the region in view of
urbanization, maintaining the same priority for the economy and security,
as well as taking into account local features of building Smart City (Huang
et al., 2021).
Researchers underline that technology- and enterprise-oriented Smart
Cities have many drawbacks because of the lack of social and cultural
inclusion (Huang et al., 2021). Public distrust of technologies that may
track and provoke the loss of privacy is inextricably linked to transparency,
which is the key in democratic systems. Achieving greater resilience
requires a serious consideration of the level of relevant risks (Giurida,
2021). Therefore, other researchers support the author’s conclusion about
the high degree of risk of innovation.
The integration of technology and society is especially important for
public recognition. They currently fail to pay adequate attention to people-
centred services and innovation-based sustainable development. This is
directly reected in the “emphasis on building infrastructure and neglecting
the use of services” (Han and Hawken, 2018). Real Smart Cities must start
with the city and its social problems, while technology-oriented needs must
meet people’s desires. So, there shall be a balance between technology,
innovation, people, society, culture and the environment (Xu and Geng,
2019).
The services, innovative platforms and systems are provided to citizens
through infrastructure and interoperability technologies, many of them
are accessible via mobile devices. This situation may entail deprivation of
voting rights of key population segments (Hryshchenko and Lavshchenko,
2020). Designers and planners of Smart Cities must take into account
that innovations as blockchain-based systems and the wider use of IT are
becoming an integral part of the system architecture (Ismagilova et al.,
2020).
Technology expanded opportunities to overcome diculties and recover
during the COVID-19 pandemic by expanding participation and social ties,
improving physical and mental health, and supporting the educational and
economic systems. With regard to the abovementioned, policymakers and
researchers need to rethink the role of Smart City projects in future health
emergencies such as COVID-19 (Cavada, 2022). Relevant research and
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discussions need to be expanded on the role of Smart City projects in health
emergencies (Yang and Chong, 2021). The introduction of technology can,
however, have adverse consequences, such as social exclusion, digital gap,
privacy and condentiality, political bias and disinformation, and inecient
teleworking and distance study (Hassankhani et al., 2021).
Ukrainian cities have just begun to develop the Smart City concept, and
the main problem they face is the lack of funding, because the state should
be the main initiator of the Smart Cities development. Scholars support the
author’s position and emphasize that it is up to the authorities to realize the
potential of cities to implement “smart” technologies (Muraev, 2021).
It is necessary to pay more attention to improving not only digital
literacy but also digital security in a rapidly changing both technological
and social reality, which should be the basis for sustainable development
of smart cities (Vershinina and Volkova, 2020). The risk rates and the
diculties in their management changes over time due to the development
of technologies and processes. Therefore, it is important to continuously
monitor and assess the risks of each aspect of the Smart City and this
concept as a system (Sharif and Pokhare, 2022).
Conclusions
The idea of smart cities is attracting attention as a new driver of growth
and development strategy in many cities around the world in view of the
development of articial intelligence and the Internet of Things. Smart City
implies such a structure of municipal government, which is able to interact
with a large proportion of the city’s residents and respond quickly to the
population’s requests. Technology-based infrastructure; environmental
proposals; functional level of public transport; advanced plans of
settlements; the ability of residents to use these resources are the features
of the eective development of the Smart City.
Adherence to basic systemic process underlies building a smart city.
This process includes selecting a competent team, in-depth diagnostics
of particular urban technologies, human resources and institutional
capabilities, nancial assets, constraints and challenges, as well as
establishing a coherent system of cooperation and interaction between all
stakeholders. Besides, the sustainable development of the Smart City faces
a variety of challenges, where the relevant risks must be properly realized
and mitigated, otherwise they may create privacy and security concerns.
Reviewed examples of the implementation of the Smart Cities concept
in some developed countries indicate that these cities make full use of the
competencies and infrastructure required to generate, transmit, process
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Infrastructural Development of Smart Cities as the Background of Digital Transformation of
Territorial Units
and analyse large data sets to obtain useful knowledge for more eective
decision-making and a deeper understanding of the urban environment,
operational functioning, sustainability management and planning. Smart
City technologies can help identify and mitigate health care crises, as
evidenced by the experience of combating the COVID-19 pandemic in
developed cities.
When implementing the Smart City concept in Ukraine, it is necessary
to clearly dene the priorities, develop a consistent implementation
programme and take into account an integrated approach in its
implementation. Relevant achievements of developed countries can be
used as a positive example for testing in Ukraine. Therefore, it is urgent to
develop a unied conceptual approach to the implementation of the Smart
City components in Ukraine in the short and long run.
A further research will be aimed at updating the results of Ukraine’s
implementation of the Smart Cities concept as a background for digital
transformation. Besides, the synergy of the Internet of Things (IoT) and
Big Data technologies can lead to promising horizons for the Smart City
development. In this sense, security combined with condentiality is an
important topic for further research in the eld of Smart Cities.
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