Challenges in Operating SMART Cities: Lessons from the Former Socialist Real Estate Sector of Hungary

Abstract

The SMART city concept is currently used in various places around the world. The concept itself has been with us for two decades, but only a few real SMART cities are actually in operation. As a political system, socialism has a number of similarities with the SMART concept, such as top-down planning, centralised management, centrally allocated budget and the mandatory participation of members of society. Hungarian socialism of the past can be considered the laboratory of the socialist system with numerous excellent, internationally discussed studies written on the theory and practice of Hungarian socialism. This article presents the unique characteristics of property management in the former Hungarian socialist system with the goal of making suggestions for the planners and operators of SMART cities. Self-evident elements of the past, such as the all-encompassing legal framework, the expectation of social cooperation, the emergence of the so-called second economy and experiences of failures in planning and implementation can all offer lessons for modern SMART cities.