Business Model Framework for Smart City Mobility Projects

Smart City is a complex and multidimensional concept that aims to support and help city councils to face the challenges of growing urbanization. In this context, managing traffic and reducing pollution is a critical objective for public administrators who have recently been increasing their investments in Smart City solutions to tackle with urban mobility problems. However, while the booming market sparked a vast literature on Smart City and smart mobility solutions, there is still a lack of studies that investigate the reasons why public administrations invest in smart mobility initiatives and the ways private vendors design and deliver the value of their Smart City mobility projects. To this end, this article presents an analysis of the business models of 300 Smart Cities’ mobility projects implemented internationally. Projects are scrutinized according to a business model canvas framework to describe how they create and deliver value. The variety of models are then classified according to a taxonomy of main similar characteristics so that a summary framework is given to illustrate the main strategies used by city councils and private vendors to implement Smart City mobility projects. The resulting reference framework can be used as a support for decision-making processes of both policy maker and private organizations and as a guide line for design and development of new Smart City mobility solution.