Acceptance of the Smart City Standard by Local Authority: A Case Study of Majlis Bandaraya Diraja Klang, Selangor, Malaysia

Abstract

Many countries in the developed and developing world are executing smart urbanism to achieve a sustainable urban future. Ensuring the smart city action plan’s compliance with the national smart city blueprints and (ISO) international standards is crucial for dispelling scepticism and ensuring comprehensive implementation. While Malaysia's national Smart City Framework outlines the urban challenges, local authorities are struggling to translate the top-down plan and align the smart city action plan with MS ISO 37122 indicators, including the case of Majlis Bandaraya Diraja Klang (MBDK) is undetermined, leading to uncertainties. This paper aims to evaluate MBDK’s smart city implementation status, analyzes ISO standards acceptance, and proposes adoption strategies. The study used quantitative survey questionnaires and a stratified random sample to gather data from 120 participants, including government officers, private officers, and the public. Key findings indicate a positive perception of smart city standards, with unanimous agreement on the importance of ISO Smart City Standards. Challenges such as high implementation costs, privacy concerns, lack of awareness, and resistance to change were identified. The study emphasizes targeted communication, education, cost-effectiveness, data privacy, and stakeholder collaboration as essential strategies for successful smart city implementation in Klang. Implementing these recommendations can lead to a sustainable urban future, positioning Klang as a model for smart city innovation. The limitation of this study includes the relatively small sample size, the quantitative method, and the single case study. Further study may employ comparative case studies, i.e., cross-local authorities or cross countries including Indonesia, etc., and explore the acceptance factors through qualitative methods such as interviews or observation. In a nutshell, this research contributed to one of the pioneer studies in evaluating the acceptance of ISO indicators in smart city development in Malaysia, and it serves as a valuable resource for decision-makers and practitioners in smart city implementation locally and beyond.