Smart cities are a big talking point at the moment but, despite that, the first truly smart city is still years away. That means that at the moment the debate is largely about how we can create the right conditions for smart cities to develop.

When we think of smart cities, the first thing that springs to mind is technology: smart transport, smart buildings smart infrastructure. In reality, however, these are just enablers of the changes that will deliver the sustainable, efficient and liveable cities of the future.

While smart cities immediately conjure up images of big data and gadgets, we don’t necessarily think about smart finance, smart people or smart democracy; the need to look at things differently and collaboratively. But these are exactly what is needed to make smart cities happen.