Smart cities as a source for entrepreneurial opportunities: Evidence for Spain

In the context of economic crisis, it is necessary to drive changes in the productive model towards a smart society. Particularly in urban areas, the Smart City movement has become an agent for change to help fight the loss of competitiveness and unemployment. Literature review shows that there is little regarding the generation of knowledge and entrepreneurial activity in the context of a smart city and in Spain in particular. This study contributes to filling this gap. We start by identifying the potential sources of entrepreneurial opportunities that a medium-sized smart city may offer based on the Knowledge Spillover Theory of Entrepreneurship. We then provide empirical evidence that the Smart City label has positively influenced the effective creation of new businesses. To this end, we examine 44 Spanish Smart City initiatives included and classified in the Smart City Index according to their smartness level. Our results confirm the relation between the Smart City label and the entrepreneurship rate. Moreover, they allow us to present some relevant considerations and implications concerning the maturing process of Smart City initiatives. These considerations are of particular interest for those agents involved in the smart city entrepreneurial ecosystem.