Analyst Insight: Smart City Trends by Region

With multiple COVID-19 vaccine candidates being deployed and many nations beginning to announce recovery stimulus packages, the world likely stands at the financial inflection point of a fading crisis. Negative financial impacts from the pandemic have affected municipalities, many of which have constrained annual budgets to account for shrinking revenue. These financial consequences are not evenly dispersed and are expected to affect smart city development differently for varying world regions. Those nations able to use strong central banks and stimulus spending packages are likely to see a surge in smart city project deployments. Those without these resources will likely see an ongoing stagnation in public spending, including in the smart city market.

Simultaneously, public demand for smart city projects has increased as the pandemic suddenly shifted the ways in which people rely on municipal infrastructure. Smart transportation, micromobility, and connectivity projects have seen a surge in both deployment and popularity since the pandemic began. The permanence of these projects, especially micromobility infrastructure, will be a subject of ongoing interest as recovery efforts commence.

This Guidehouse Insights report focuses on historical and anticipated trends for smart city projects generally within each of the five world regions tracked: North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and the Middle East & Africa. Drawing on data from Guidehouse Insights’ Smart Cities Tracker, this report considers 619 tracked smart city projects from 2010 to 2020. Discussion on this data includes regional market drivers, barriers, and emerging opportunities.