@article{ffe0566e584249d9820c88dd02725b2d,
title = "EU Smart City Lighthouse Projects between Top-Down Strategies and Local Legitimation: The Case of Hamburg",
abstract = "The concept of the smart city has become increasingly popular in recent years and a large number of cities globally follow smart city strategies. By awarding subsidies in the Horizon 2020 programme, the European Union (EU) has taken on an influential role in how smart city projects are conceived and implemented in European municipalities. Using the example of the smart city pilot project mySMARTLife in Hamburg, the purpose of this article is to examine the area of tension between strategically pursuing own objectives and adjustment to external provisions of the EU funding framework. In a qualitative single case study, the article analyses what implications the project mySMARTLife has on urban development practice and local governance arrangements in Hamburg. Examining current literature on smart cities from the perspective of multi-level governance and presenting the current state of research dealing with EU smart city projects, a theoretical framework is developed. The analysis reveals that, due to the EU funding framework, precise project contents are contractually defined at an early stage when local stakeholders have limited involvement in this process. Furthermore, the analysis shows that the EU smart city funding in the project mySMARTLife is more limited to the implementation of individual interventions than to a comprehensive smart city strategy. As a result, this article considers EU-funded smart city initiatives as experimental fields that enable cities to gain experiences that can be incorporated into local strategic development objectives.",
keywords = "EU funding, governance, Hamburg, smart city, strategic urban planning, urban transition",
author = "Katharina Lange and Jorg Knieling",
note = "Funding Information: This study was conducted in the frame of the project mySMARTLife and has received funding from the European Union{\textquoteright}s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme, under grant agreement No. 731297. Funding Information: In Europe, the vision of the smart city has been decisively influenced by the awarding of European Union (EU) subsidies for smart city initiatives. Seeking to reduce urban CO2 emissions and to improve the quality of life as well as the economic performance of European cities, the EU has been tendering calls for funding smart city projects within the framework of the Horizon 2020 programme for research and innovation (European Commission, 2016). Cities that were chosen to receive EU funding for a smart city project are designated with the prestigious title of a {\textquoteleft}smart Lighthouse city.{\textquoteright} With the offer of the coveted subsidies, the EU is setting standards and definitions for smart cities. On the one hand, cities that have been awarded grants as Lighthouse cities in EU smart city projects get the chance to act strategically to benefit from the grant funds and to pursue its own interests and goals of development (Haarstad \& Wathne, 2018). On the other hand, grant recipient Lighthouse cities have to fulfil precise standards and targets regarding smart city development, adapt to the regulatory requirements of the EU and fulfil the agreed project framework. Thus, they bear the risk of following top-down development approaches with a lack of democratic legitimation and loss of municipal autonomy (Sp{\"a}th \& Knieling, 2018). Funding Information: Funding calls in the area of Smart Cities and Communities have been advertised, asking for project applications from consortia consisting of different European cities and respective public and private partners. The tenders are designed to facilitate the cooperation of cities, industry and citizens to demonstrate solutions on a district scale, which are cost-effective as well as replicable at the intersection of energy, mobility and ICT (European Commission, 2016). Cities chosen to receive EU funding for a smart city pilot project are given the prestigious label of a {\textquoteleft}smart Lighthouse city.{\textquoteright} Cities and project consortia that aim to design a successful project proposal must adopt this vision, corresponding objectives and regulatory requirements. Two parties of interest are thus present in this dynamic. On the one hand, the funding body—in this case the EU— awards funding to city consortia that are obliged to implement a smart city initiative according to criteria stipulated within the grant agreement. On the other hand, cities have the interest to push forward their own development objectives and to implement these through external financing. In order to successfully apply for funding, certain local development objectives have to be adapted to the specifications, goals and smart city vision of the Horizon 2020 programme. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2020 by the authors; licensee Cogitatio (Lisbon, Portugal).",
year = "2020",
month = mar,
day = "13",
doi = "10.17645/up.v5i1.2531",
language = "English",
volume = "5",
pages = "107--115",
journal = "Urban Planning",
number = "1",
}
