Opportunities and Challenges for the Construction of a Smart City Geo-Spatial Framework in a Small Urban Area in Central China

Abstract

In 2006, China lunched its first Digital City initiative to build a national geo-spatial framework. Over the past ten years, 511 county-cities benefited from the national initiative with funding and technical resources channeled from the central government. Has the initiative achieved its goals? How has the geo-spatial framework affected local governmental administration, public services, business operation, and the daily life of citizens? What lessons can be learned from the ten-year experience of digital city development? Answering these questions is of important policy, scholarly, and practical interest. The Digital City initiative set the foundation for building smart cities that China’s central government agencies and many local municipalities are currently pursuing. A review in retrospect of China’s digital city development helps inform future Smart City investment decisions and related policy making in the nation. Lessons learned from the Chinese experience are also valuable to cities in other countries.