Smart City concepts and their approach on sustainability, transportation and tourism – Waterborne transportation, an opportunity for sustainability?

Sammanfattning: Due to urbanization and the population of cities producing up to 75% of emission, Smart City concepts, looking at sustainability and more efficiency within the city, with the help of IoT and ICT based technology, are seen as an opportunity to act future-oriented, today. Construction and transportation are seen as the main contributors on the way of change from energy consumption to energy production. Enhancing infrastructure to improve the quality of all sorts of public transportation is thus of utter importance to governance, interested in Smart City concepts. Looking at the literature, waterborne transportation has not received much scientific attention in the context of being implemented into Smart City initiatives. This systematic literature research draws logical conclusions from the researched literature. The research concludes with a research agenda for future research to deepen the knowledge in the explanatory field of waterborne transportation making use of Smart City technologies. The main findings of this thesis are: First, waterborne transportation poses a threat to the environment and impacts sustainability of water bodies, as well as the environment surrounding them. Second, Smart City technologies can successfully be implemented in waterborne transportation when carefully planned. Barriers for the implementation of Smart City concepts can be lack of knowledge, investment, data security and readiness of infrastructure. These can be overcome through the help of collaboration and knowledge sharing among the involved stakeholders. Third, the image of the industry can be shifted, as well as its direct impact and the indirect use of waterborne transportation can be made more sustainable and ecosystem friendly. This transition attracts further customers, who otherwise were not willing to use waterborne transportation. In order to make waterborne transportation more sustainable and part of the Smart City movement, knowledge needs to be deepened and awareness about the topic needs to be spread. Its use of Smart City technologies needs to be further investigated, looking at specific types and tailored solutions for them, as well as how beneficial such an investment can be for governments and companies regarding ecological costs and their image. This thesis mainly aims to help scholars, interested in further research to deepen the knowledge on waterborne transportation in a sustainability context, but also companies and governance, looking to make waterborne transportation more sustainable.