Concept of Smart Cities Development Strategy in the Western Balkans

Abstract

If we keep in mind that we live in an age marked by digitalization, industry 5.0, as well as the accelerated population growth in urban regions, it is easy to conclude that the concept of smart cities is a very relevant topic for research. The aim of this paper is to examine whether and to what extent the concept of smart cities has been implemented in the city administration in the countries of the Western Balkans. For that purpose, a research was conducted, which includes surveying employed in various administrations in the following cities: Belgrade, Nis, Kragujevac, Trebinje, Podgorica, Herceg Novi, City of Skopje. The data indicate the fact that the respondents from Belgrade, Trebinje and Herceg Novi have the most knowledge and the most transparent insight into the data concerning smart city projects, while the respondents from Podgorica are the least knowledgeable about the entire issue. The general conclusion is that, although there are examples of cities with very positive progress in the field of implementation of smart city development strategies, there are still numerous problems in the implementation of projects in the countries of the Western Balkans.

The nature of urban sprawl in Western Balkan cities

“…Studies focusing on Western Balkans usually highlight economic and environmental aspects. As far as cities are concerned, scarce research is mostly focused on smart cities and the conclusion that numerous problems are a major challenge to projects striving to implement smart city strategies (Tomašević & Latinović, 2020;Ostojić et al, 2022). As for urban sprawl, in major cities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the research focuses on the analysis of the expansion of urban zones and their impact on the surrounding areas.…”

Perspektive razvoja pametnih gradova u Srbiji

“…S obzirom na to da je Srbija ipak malo tržište, pametna rešenja koja su primenjiva u svim gradovima i opštinama na teritoriji Srbije predstavljaju pravi "smart" potencijal (Gluščević, 2021). Autori Ostojić, Vuković i Bogdanović u svom istraživanju o pametnim gradovima u državama Zapadnog Balkana navode da je 84,3 % ispitanika potvrdilo da veruju da je moguće uvesti inovacije koje bi njihove gradove svrstale u red pametnih gradova (Ostojić et al, 2022). "Smart city" kao poplarna fraza nije nova ideja, ali je svakako više od trenutnog trenda (Zlatković & Denić, 2020).…”