| Abstract |
The paper aims at identifying the current main issues potentially hindering the further implementation of smart cities, putting forward some proposals to overcome them. In particular, in its first part, the work focuses on the main problem concerning smart city, namely its definition. In fact, currently there is no legal (i.e. binding) definition of smart city, and the paper proposes a holistic approach, with a view to embracing not only an economic view of the smart city concept, but also other dimensions, e.g. the human, social, environmental, cultural, and digital dimensions. In its second part, the paper analyses more deeply the main challenges hindering the implementation of smart cities: financing, infrastructure, digital divide. The paper concludes upholding that access to the Internet as well as digital literacy and awareness should be qualified as fundamental rights with a crucial role played by the public sector. |