On Relative Success in Obtaining Grants for Smart Cities in the European Union and on the Cost of the Outcome

Abstract

The concept of smart cities is gaining momentum with efforts to go greener and be more sustainable along with the growing demand for data-driven policies. The European Union (EU) is highly committed to fostering sustainable urban development through targeted funding programs that encourage innovation, collaboration, and practical solutions for climate-neutral and smart cities. We have used data mining on the data of the Community Research and Development Information Service (CORDIS) and Eurostat during 2014 – 2022, to analyze such projects. Firstly, we can report that in absolute measures, Germany, Spain, France, Sweden and Lithuania have obtained the largest amounts of money fromthe EU Horizon program to support the development of smart cities. Secondly, we have found that when accounting for the size of funding per capita, Estonia leads in terms of funds invested in smart cities followed by Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Finland, and Cyprus. Focusing our attention on the cost of outcomes, i.e., the efficiency of spending funds on smart cities, we can see that the leading countries in the EU are Romania, Switzerland, Norway, and Luxembourg. The authors have compared the success of European projects in their different phases, while considering the overall results as most relevant for our evaluation.