Abstract for: Development of a generic Smart City model using MARVEL

The concept of the ‘Smart City’ is seen as double edged sword that should alleviate societal and environmental problems as well as fuel economic growth. Literature has identified many important characteristics of Smart Cities but has not yet provided a systemic approach that describes the interdependencies between these characteristics. The current study was conducted in support of an integrated approach for developing Smart City initiatives. We used group model building and interviews together with the MARVEL method to describe the interrelations between People, Environment, Living condition, Governance, Economy and Mobility. MARVEL is a method and a tool for developing CLD-like causal models. The model forms the basis for a systemic framework to supports diverse sets of stakeholders in the development and analysis of future smart city initiatives. We demonstrate how various functions of MARVEL can be used to perform qualitative analysis to this end.