Are Creative and Green Cities Also Smart and Sustainable

Clean, green, creative, and now smart cities have all been separately identified, measured, ranked, and evaluated. Are they really all just different ways of talking about the same things? Cities that rank well in one category always seem to do well on the others. This research identifies and compares creative, green, and smart cities and looks for correlations. This research will proceed along two lines. First, new measures for identifying smart cities and sustainable cities are developed. These are then combined with existing measures for green and creative cities. Which cities are creative but not smart? Green but not creative? Second, what are the relationships among cities for being creative, green, and smart? This research will help cities, regions, and policy makers, many of whom are pursuing growth strategies based around one or more of these concepts. By discussing the relationships among these strategies, a more nuanced approach may be developed.