Development of a framework for assessing smart city readiness in South African municipalities: A case study of Matjhabeng Municipality

Abstract

The empirical research discussed the smart city concept and the Smartness Assessment Framework (SAF) for municipalities in South Africa. It developed a mobile application using the Matjhabeng Local Municipality as a case study. The notion of smart cities comprises the integration of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), environmental sustainability, the functionality of municipal systems, quality of life for all, and, significantly, community-driven development. In South Africa, most municipalities use various assessment frameworks to guide operations, which may include basic components such as the municipal setting, ICTs, communities, and a development strategy. While the idea of smart cities is noble and desirable, it cannot be said of all medium-sized cities in South Africa, where an array of challenges makes the realisation of smart cities, especially in waste management, a pipe dream. At the top of the list of challenges are ineffective baseline physical infrastructure and poor-quality, unsustainable, and segregated social services. Furthermore, there are limited evaluation procedures on the smartness frameworks utilized by the municipality. In this study, the SAF is evaluated against six smart city best practices: smart governance, smart economy, smart people, smart living, smart environment, and smart mobility. Through the implementation and assessment of best practices, a mobile application technology solution has been developed to address the municipality's waste management and reporting challenges. In terms of methodology, a mixed method was used to address the following objectives: 1) To carry out a systematic review of IoT deployment within smart cities implementations globally, 2) To review and assess the relevance and applicability of the smart city concepts, models and frameworks in use within three selected South Africa’s municipalities, 3) To develop SAF for smart city implementations for South Africa’s municipalities and 4) To develop a mobile app to assess waste management information system. To collect data, various methods were used, including interviews and document analysis, with reference to the Integrated Development Plan (IDP) reports, which helped develop an interview guide that shaped the proposed framework. The qualitative data were generated through interviews with 5 participants (directors) from distinct directorates within Matjhabeng municipality. To analyse the data, thematic analyses were conducted to generate insights for developing the SAF framework. Qualitative data gathered from the Community Services directorate were utilised to seamlessly develop the mobile application intervention, aligned with one of the framework's critical components, smart environment. Quantitative data was generated from Statistics South Africa (StatsSA) database, focusing on IDP Matjhabeng Local Municipality, with reference to smart governance, smart economy, smart people, smart living, smart environment, and smart mobility. StatsSA, among other things, provided population demographics, economic growth levels, and infrastructure statistics, allowing insights into critical indicators such as population growth, service delivery performance, internet connectivity, and socioeconomic conditions. This data was critical in identifying gaps and possibilities for measuring smartness at work. To analyse quantitative data, the fuzzy synthetic evaluation (FSE) method was used to calculate the municipality's smartness index. Furthermore, the alignment of existing municipal objectives with smart city concepts was evaluated, with a focus on digital transformation, sustainable infrastructure, and effective governance. The integration of StatsSA and IDP datasets enabled a thorough evaluation of the framework and smartness performance, ensuring that ideas are grounded in evidence and contextually relevant. Moreover, the thesis concluded with a contribution to smart municipal governance and environmental sustainability through the development and integration of a mobile application for waste management and reporting, offering a practical digital solution to improve waste collection, enhance citizen engagement, and promote environmental sustainability. In light of the above, the study argues that implementing SAF and the corresponding mobile application for waste management in Matjhabeng municipality required immediate attention and creativity, drawing on interviews, the IDP, and StatsSA data.