From Measure to Guidance: Galactic Model and Sustainable Development Planning toward the Best Smart City

The reconstruction of traditional cities as smart cities has received considerable global attention because of the availability of new technology and the emerging Internet of Things (IoT). An evaluation index system is required to accurately measure the main factors that influence the sustainable development of smart cities in the real world. Therefore, this study proposes the analysis of influential relationships among criteria in the galactic model using the decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory (DEMATEL)-based analytic network process (DANP) method. An influential network relation map (INRM) is constructed to analyze relationships among indicators, after which the influential weights of the indicators are determined. An empirical case using the modified-vlsekriterijumska optimizacija i kompromisno resenje (VIKOR) method, comparing the development of Chinese cities Weihai and Qingdao, is used to validate the method. The results indicate that performance gaps exist among dimensions and among criteria, and improvement strategies are proposed that would reduce the performance gaps of these two smart cities. This is achieved by prioritizing the factors that required improvement. The proposed method thus provides a useful reference for continuous improvement in sustainable development planning toward the best smart city.