The Study of Putrajaya as a Smart City

THE STUDY OF PUTRAJAYA AS A SMART CITY

Leader: Dr. Sr Yasmin Mohd Adnan

Dr. Hasniyati Hamzah

Assoc. Prof Dr Md Nasir Daud Assoc. Prof. Dr Anuar Alias

Assoc. Prof. Dr.  Melasutra Md Dali

Research Assistant - Shafilla Md Saad

ABSTRACT

Established in 1995, Putrajaya has been declared as the administrative centre for Malaysia. Despite the extensive investment on city development and accolades received on its many achievements, Putrajaya still suffers from a number of issues which include the lack of vibrancy and the lack of diversity within the population that would contribute to the city's cosmopolitanism. In the era of trade liberalisation and borderless economy, a city has no choice but to adapt and improve to stay competitive.

This study aims to introduce the concept of Smart City into Putrajaya as a way to enhance the efficiency of the city management. It does not aim to change the city development concept currently adopted by Putrajaya, nor does it intends to introduce new initiatives for Putrajaya. Its approach is to learn from Smart City applications from identified comparable cities,  identify current initiatives  planned for Putrajaya and apply some of the identified best practices for Putrajaya. As such, the application of Smart City principles for Putrajaya is seen as complementary to its current city management plans, thus promoting its sustainability.

A three-stage methodology guides the operation of this study. The first stage entails a comprehensive literature review with the aim of establishing a Smart City definition and outlining the features of Smart City. The second stage involves identifying where Putrajaya stands against selected cities by comparing the cities' initiatives grouped under the Smart City concept. However, the literature review also cautioned how the functions of a city and prevailing local conditions may influence its application of the Smart City concept. To reflect the consideration of the city function, the third stage identifies the potentials of Putrajaya as a Smart City as perceived by its users.

It is found that Singapore, Seoul and Melbourne lead when it comes to the provision of smart city initiatives in almost all smartness dimensions. Each city was developed according to the visions of the city management that could be influenced by the greater national agenda. When comparison are made to the level of achievements for the initiatives under the six (6) Smart City dimensions, Putrajaya and lskandar Malaysia may not have achieved the high level of provision as compared to the more developed cities. Both these cities have their own strength catering for the achievement of its vision and mission. It has been observed that the Smart City dimension that has achieved the _Smart City Ideal' for Putrajaya is Smart Environment and this should be maintained in its quest of achieving Sustainable Putrajaya vision.