Impact Measurement in Smart and Sustainable Cities: Insights from German Municipalities. 

Against the backdrop of advancing urbanization, climate change and social injustices, cities around the world are under increasing pressure to transform. Simultaneously, they are pivotal arenas for implementing global sustainability strategies across ecological, economic, and social dimensions, as 65 percent of the SDG subgoals depend on local governments and can only be achieved through successful transformation measures in cities and municipalities (SDG11 Sustainable Cities and Communities, 2023). This urge for transformation calls for technical and non-technical solutions in dealing with key challenges of social coexistence (Treude, 2021).  
Under the umbrella term “smart city”, numerous German cities have developed strategies and measures to leverage digital technologies in order to actively shape the transformation on the local level. In doing so, they are supported by the federal government that began setting up funding programs for integrated approaches of sustainable urban development and digitalization as early as 2010. Since then, a differentiated funding landscape has developed, but sustainable digitalization is not yet being implemented equally in all German cities and municipalities (Bauer et al., 2020). In addition to this, various studies have shown that a smart city strategy does not automatically contribute to the common good or environmental protection. So far, there is controversial evidence on the contribution of current smart city practices to sustainability targets (Weil et al., 2023; Yigitcanlar et al., 2019).  In order to address the controversy surrounding smart city strategies and their impact on sustainability goals, this research aims to take a closer look at how impact measurement is currently conducted in municipalities. Focusing on impact has the potential to increase the transformation capacity of municipal administrations by providing knowledge, collaboration and actionable data (Grosch 2023, Maikämper 2022). The goal is to investigate how cities evaluate the success of their smart city measures, particularly in relation to sustainability objectives. The research question is thus: How do German (big) cities measure the impact of their smart city measures? 

Building on previous research that ranked the smart city strategies of major German cities in terms of their focus on (social) sustainability goals (von Schwichow, forthcoming), this research project aims to examine the methods and indicators used by municipalities and to identify persistent barriers and lessons learned in their impact measurement processes.   The analysis of the impact measurement processes will be based on five case studies of German cities, supplemented by interviews with smart city managers and key stakeholders from municipal administrations. By shedding light on current practices and challenges, the paper underscores the importance of robust measurement tools in fostering urban sustainability. Ideally, this paper will offer valuable insights for policymakers, urban planners and scholars interested in the intersection of technology, sustainability and governance, ultimately contributing to the broader discourse on how cities can navigate and shape a sustainable future.