Assessment of the level of smart city development in Czech cities based on selected indicators

Abstract The Smart City concept combines the current efforts of cities and municipalities to behave in a sustainable and responsible manner while simultaneously reflecting modern approaches to municipal management and development based on both tangible and intangible innovations, as well as the active implementation of technological elements and outputs of Industry 4.0. The significance of forming smart cities is related to the idea that they improve the quality and comfort of residents’ lives, increase the accessibility and efficiency of public services, reduce environmental impact, and enhance overall collaboration. Our intention is to quantify the level of “smartness” in district towns of the LAU1 regions through a methodologically original evaluation of a set of partial smart elements and to determine their ranking. The aim of this paper is to evaluate district towns in the Czech Republic according to their practical application of smart elements in public space. In total, 71 cities were compared based on 25 key indicators related to the areas of organization and smart governance, community and public space, infrastructure and technologies, and the environment. The determination and selection of indicators were based on the synthesis of partial indicators adopted or modified from six studies and professional sources. For comparison, the “smart” level of Czech NUTS 3 regions was also determined using the same methodology. The analysis was conducted using data collected between the second half of 2024 and the first quarter of 2025.