The dimensions of a smart city in remote (smart) regions — case study

The main goal of the smart cities initiative is to enable cities to manage their assets efficiently, investing in innovation and creativity as a way to promote sustainable and inclusive urban development. When tackling such an emerging and promising area as this one of intelligent cities, it is important to know whether all cities can be fitted into this concept regardless of their size or location, thus promoting social equity throughout the whole Portuguese territory. The Portuguese Smart Cities Network includes 46 municipalities throughout the national territory. There are a lower number of such cities located in the interior part of the country. This was one of the reasons leading to this research work aiming to find out whether a city the interior (remote regions) can be considered a smart city and in what dimensions it bets. There are a number of dimensions of action that a city can explore in order to be considered a smart city. Considering the place under study, the aims of this research work are to ascertain what dimensions are being adopted to increase the efficiency of the city's resources and services management.