Sustainability in Smart Cities is a current and trendy topic in a global sense. The primary impetus for writing this article was to create a general implementation model for the smart governance of European Smart Cities based on the American best practice. The ambition is to be able to modify the generally created model to meet the local conditions of all countries. The aim of the article is to point out the essential elements and differences between the implementation standards, models and clusters in the cities of North America and Europe, including their benefits and limitations. This article compared standards, implementation and cluster models for Smart Cities in North America and Europe through a secondary analysis from Arcadis and IDC consultants, standards agencies, and relevant sources. In addition, comparisons and summaries of the results were used. The results of this article point out the fundamental differences between the American and European approaches to building Smart Cities. American models are more centrist-oriented to people and complex in their simplicity, thus achieving a higher degree of reputation. Europeans are less consistent and top-down oriented. The new model will make European Smart Cities more focused on the needs and expectations of all stakeholders. The main results of this article are the answers to the research questions and the general implementation model, the verification of which will take place in practice in the future.

Building Smart City management concepts is based on the implementation and use of advanced technologies. The primary impulse for writing the article was the ambition to identify the current advanced technologies of Smart City management. The aim of the article is to propose a general model for the implementation of advanced technologies for Smart City management, based on the knowledge gained from the analysis of literature and case studies. In order to fulfill the set goal, it is necessary to obtain answers to two research questions. The findings were obtained through a secondary analysis of the literature, i.e., relevant articles from the scientific databases Web of Science and Scopus analysis of case studies of the best Smart Cities practices. According to the Smart City Index 2020 and IESE Cities in Motion, the leaders among the Smart Cities are Singapore and London, followed by Helsinki. In addition to the analyses, the article also uses methods of summarization, comparison, creativity, logic, induction and deduction. Smart Cities use 12 identified advanced technologies in their practice. Strategic management in Singapore, London and Helsinki adapts technology to the needs and requirements of its citizens, thus connecting the technological aspect with the managerial and social aspects. The contributions of the work include results for fellow researchers and a model for strategic management of new Smart Cities. The results of the article provide fellow researchers with the findings of a secondary analysis of relevant articles, from which they can draw when writing their own publications without the need for time-consuming search of the articles about this topic in databases. The general model of implementation of advanced technologies serves as a basis for strategic management of new Smart Cities that want to implement a technological base and at the same time do not want to forget the managerial and social aspects. Testing the model in practice with a new Slovak Smart City is part of future research activities.

The wood-processing industry currently does not sufficiently use modern technologies, unlike the automotive sector. The primary motive for writing this article was in cooperation with a Slovak wood processing company, which wanted to improve its logistics processes and increase competitiveness in the wood processing sector through the implementation of new technologies. The aim of this article was to identify the positives and limitations of the implementation of Internet of Things (IoT) technology into the wood processing industry, based on a secondary analysis of case studies and the best practice of American wood processing companies such as West Fraser Timber in Canada, and Weyerhaeuser in the USA. The selection of case studies was conditional on criteria of time relevance, size of the sawmills, and production volume in m3. These conditional criteria reflected the conditions for the introduction of similar concepts for wood-processing enterprises in Slovakia. The implementation of the IoT can reduce operating costs by up to 20%, increase added value for customers, and collect real-time data that can serve as the basis for support of management and decision-making at the operational, tactical, and strategic levels. In addition to the secondary analysis, methods of comparison of global wood processing companies, synthesis of knowledge, and summarization of positives and limitations of IoT implementation or deduction were used to reach our conclusions. The results were used as the basis for the design of a general model for the implementation of IoT technology for Slovak wood processing enterprises. This model may represent best practice for the selected locality and industry. The implications and verification of the designed model in practice will form part of other research activities, already underway in the form of a primary survey.

Water is a critically important element of human life. The best practice of effective water management comes from ancient civilizations that, despite their technologies and practices, were unable to prevent collapse from water scarcity. In the 21st century, in an era of climate change, pollution or population explosion, cities are looking for innovative ways to effectively manage scarce resources for future generations. Which elements should cities of the future follow to avoid water collapse? The following article aims to identify the key elements of effective management and to represent them graphically in the form of a recommended model, which will be verified in the future in Slovakia. The article uses case analysis of best past and current practices, comparison and summarization to identify the elements, creativity, and logic in the development of the model, including induction and deduction. The article serves as a basis for fellow researchers (analyses carried out) and strategic urban management (effective urban water management). The main finding of the article is that ecological change puts pressure on social elements and therefore it is necessary to focus on the area of strategic management. Cities should not only know how to manage resource abundance or short-term scarcity, but also long-term scarcity. They should use elements of trust, awareness and continuous improvement through modern monitoring technologies (UAVs, sensors) and prediction (machine learning). This is the only way to generate water sustainability in the urban concept of the future.

Globalization, integration and liberalism are concepts that have been used since ancient history and have influenced urban governance to this day. The aim of the article is to find out, based on the historical development of globalization, Friedmann’s urban concept and Sassen’s global theory of cities—how world cities reflect the new challenges of 21st century globalization. In the recent past, building of the global urban network has been influenced by factors such as the growth of populism, neoliberalism, migration, the existence of exploitative centers, urbanization and changes in the demographic curve. Similar to the year 2020, also in 2021 cities must face a single global challenge posed by the Covid-19 pandemic. In this article the authors used methods of comparative analysis of global Smart Cities such as New York, London and Tokyo. The discussion section includes a summary of results of the analysis, and a design of a new general model for managing global challenges in cities is introduced. The results of the article point towards the role and influence of cultural differences of global cities and this also relates to the approach to managing the new challenges of current times. New York and London are culturally closer and also showed similar results, whereas Tokyo differs across all analyzed elements. The main result of the article are the answers to the research questions and the design of a new general model which involves various elements of globalization management and which is based on the world best practices.