Network Northamptonshire: total transport smart city procurement theoretical framework for sustainable economic and social change

Culture, governance and procurement remain under-researched in current academic literature within a smart city transportation context, with evidence suggesting that procurement is a much needed aspect of bringing about change at local government level. This paper showcases the research based upon the “Network Northamptonshire” total transport project, bringing together elements of peer-reviewed research that purport success in the delivery of the smart city concept, allied to identifying gaps in the literature relating to best-in-class business practice to develop a theoretical framework “total transport smart city procurement”. Furthermore, the paper demonstrates that there is a disconnect between the ideals of the smart city and actual development needs, with the authors supporting the need for further research in the area of smart cities’ connection to culture, governance and procurement through the proposed framework in order to convey the wider European smart city concept and continue the sharing of best practice to bring about economic and socially connected conurbations.