Developing a Smart City Model that Ensures the Optimum Utilization of Existing Resources in Cities of All Sizes

The concept of Smart Cities is currently gaining high popularity among city authorities around the world while attracting leading companies to collaborate with government bodies as it is now moving from pilot projects and towards creating high business value. Though the existing literature provides evidence for various attempts made in defining the term Smart City and in developing models for the realization of Smart Cities, they are largely focusing on heavily digitized cities with well-established infrastructure. Therefore this paper attempts to address the unattended need of developing a Smart City model that could equally be applied to small and emerging cities especially in developing countries, with the aim of optimizing the utilization of existing city resources. Maslow´s hierarchy of needs serves as the base on which the model is developed and the associated cyclic behavior is due to the emphasis placed on the participation of citizens in city governance through their feedback which is further inspired by the advent of new technologies including web 2.0 technologies. Universal design is integrated to the model further making the cities accessible and livable for all.