ABSTRACT
‘Smart cities’ emerged from European urbanization trends to promote sustainability and technological innovations. This chapter explores the prerequisites and the process of how Stavanger became a smart city, highlighting enabling factors of this development and the challenges in maintaining it. Two of the authors have been involved as professionals in the Stavanger smart city journey. This chapter reflects upon this process, in view of Stavanger’s history, European urbanization-related challenges, and wicked problems, to explore the research question: How was the smart city concept implemented and realized in the City of Stavanger, and what were important factors in this process?
The implementation of the Triangulum project reveals Stavanger’s positioning vis-à-vis EU funding opportunities and the importance of early information and access, including Stavanger’s and the region’s early presence on the European arena in Brussels.
Stavanger’s business orientation, stakeholder relationship, intercultural qualities, willingness to learn, individual driving forces, and citizens’ involvement are highlighted as significant factors in the smart city development. Further, the role of networking and collaboration is exemplified by the triple and quadruple helix approaches. The integration of human and environmental perspectives into policy and innovation is crucial to promote inclusivity, green transition, and Stavanger’s goals towards climate neutrality.
