Exploring sustainable considerations of smart cities in developing countries: The case study of Kumasi city.

The acclivitous increment in the population of the world comes with its own immense challenges. Cities must be smart and sustainable, particularly now where more than half of human dwellings have become urbanised. Smart city, the concept of improving urban structures with ICTs, intelligence and technologies is appreciated in developed economies, but its formation in developing countries is barely taking roots. Hence, as the concept is well-appraised to be of enormous benefits to city conurbations, examining it in the context of sustainability will provide prima facie of how smart cities could solve urbanisation problems while ensuring sustainable development. The purpose of this study therefore was to explore the sustainable considerations of smart city formation in developing countries, by using Kumasi City as a case study. Adopting the pragmatic research philosophy which informs the use of either a qualitative, quantitative or both research approaches, purposive sampling technique was used to reach the target population of this study. A total of seventy-six research questionnaires were retrieved from the survey, and adopting descriptive statistics, relative importance index, mean score ranking, one-sample t-test and principal component factor analysis, the several parts of the questionnaires were strategically analysed. The reliability of the scale and internal consistency of the variables were checked by using the Cronbach Alpha Coefficient test. In an effort to achieve the objectives of the study, it became imperative to first determine the smartness level of Kumasi city. Borrowing the six dimensions of smart cities formation from Giffinger et al.’s studies and identifying independent variables which explains each dimension; respondents and experts were allowed to rank the various variables in the determination of the smartness level of Kumasi city. After subjecting the retrieved data to mean score ranking and relating the findings to the formulated smartness box, it was concluded that Kumasi City is a substantial smart city, and has not attained the smart city level yet. Therefore, the study went on to determine the key sustainable development factors of smart city formation in developing countries. After using one sample t-test, it was concluded that there were enough evidence to support the claim that the independent variable which explains the key sustainable development factors of smart cities, for instance, improving recyclable and reusable water treatment systems, adopting renewable energy sources, providing good, quality and affordable education and training for all etc. were all drawn from a population such that the population mean was not equal to the hypothesised mean of 3.5. Using relative importance index, the militating factors of sustainable development of smart cities were analysed. It was determined that lack of preparedness on the side of government, financial inclusiveness of the concept and lack of practical application of some of the smart city concepts were the main challenges to the formation, upscaling and sustainable development of smart cities. Adopting principal component factor analysis in determining the critical success factors of sustainable development of smart cities, four main components were extracted which explained 67.927% of the total variance in this dimension. The key findings of the study led to the formulation of a conceptual framework for improving smartness and sustainability of developing countries’ cities. In conclusion, the study recommended that government should be prepared and ready, they should set up the requisite policies, make provisions for any financial implications, prioritize increasing the smartness of people as its main agenda, incorporate sustainable principles from the onset and provide the necessary measures to ensure the formation of sustainable smart cities in developing countries.

Source: KNUST