bribery and other corrupt practices are not considered obstacles a smart city... we see it a bit different. We have our real goals, here (Denmark Corruption Report 2017 - Gan Integrity Website). you can say, which is to create a better quality of life, to create However, despite the low level of corruption within the country, a CO-neutral city and to create growth, and all the work we do2 the Council of Europe has made criticisms regarding Denmark’s with smart city is more like a tool, a toolbox that we use for our nontransparent rules on financing political parties (Council of real goals. It’s not a goal in itself to be smart or to use all the Europe’s anti-corruption group (GRECO)). technology that exists, we only use it when it makes sense to reach our real goals as a city, and that’s always with the citizen 6.3 Copenhagen: a different kind of smart city? in focus” (Ghasemi, 2015). In our work on smart cities, governance and participation have Lars Engberg11 offered a different message in his interview with been an essential point to consider in order to understand Ghasemi: “Does smart mean that some system is smart and whether the creation of a smart city program involves the tries to make choices on your behalf without understanding it?... opinions and feedback of residents, and, most importantly, Or does smart mean to have structures so that we can talk to responds to locals’ needs. In our research, we have not found each other and get these mechanisms to work but distributing relevant data on citizen participation within Copenhagen’s choice and control to the citizen, and having the intelligence official documents, articles, or other sources of information. to distribute it to your hands on your questions?... That is a However, citizen participation seems well established as a core huge distinction! And... the solution to that is always the same: ingredient of the Danish approach to democratic processes. collect some citizen information and then try to make some intelligent solutions” (Ghasemi 2015). Arvin Ghasemi’s case study of sustainability and data collection in Copenhagen in the context of Wi-Fi and Bluetooth The interviews conducted by Ghasemi lead us to understand technologies,8published in 2015, contains interviews with senior that Copenhagen does not have, as most of the cities we have figures from Copenhagen City Council. One of his interviewees been studying so far do, an official plan to “become a smart told him, “We haven’t had any political decisions so far on a city.” Instead, Copenhagen’s focus is on implementing solutions smart city strategy... not a big one. It’s politically decided that designed to serve the city’s objectives to become carbon neutral yes we should work with smart city and this direction, but it’s in 2025 and to become a sustainable city. not like it’s a vision for Copenhagen that the politicians have decided.” This insight sheds light on an interesting aspect of In terms of general policy, this is a bit confusing, since we municipal policy: official decision making is not centralized, and have examined many detailed municipal plans for Copenhagen nor is there a specific focus on technology.9 that focus on climate and energy and ultimately have a strong correlation with the kinds of smart city programs that we The same interviewee, Kim Spiegelberg Stelzer,10also said, analyze in this ebook. We have found information on citizens’ “If we would... ask anyone who lives in Copenhagen about participation (for example, the number of citizens willing to the Copenhagen smart city they wouldn’t know because we plant trees or recycle waste) that would contradict some of haven’t really involved the public yet, so far. But when we start the arguments presented above. However, globally, citizens’ to implement the solutions, then we’ll have a lot of citizen participation is a tool or a device to implement a specific policy involvement” (Ghasemi, 2015). However, it seems that when it more than it is a major political aim or something to make big comes to public decisions about new energy solutions, services claims about. All available publications and reports assume that on apps, bicycle routes, and pollution and noise, a large number people pay enough attention to the city’s long-term orientation of citizens support the city’s projects. and policies implemented in their name. Spiegelberg Stelzer also argued, “One thing that’s very Therefore, we will keep monitoring the evolution of important to say is that some cities work very hard to become Copenhagen’s “smart city” development to assess the growth (8) Ghasemi, A. (2015). Sustainability and Data Collection in the Smart City - A Case Study of the Wi-Fi and Bluetooth Tracking Project in Copenhagen. MVEM30. Studies in Environmental Science. MVEM30. Master Thesis http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/5473894 (9) Solutions from Copenhagen - Interviews with the Lord Mayor Frank Jensen: https://cities-today.com/interview-with-frank-jensen-lord-mayor-of-copenhagen/ and https://www.smartcitiesdive.com/ex/sustainablecitiescollective/solutions-copenhagen-interview-mayor/228921/. Lord Mayor Lars Weiss, elected appointed in October 2020, has replaced him. (10) Smart City Senior Advisor, City of Copenhagen https://www.gate21.dk/project/kim-spiegelberg/ (Accessed on 7 April 2021). (11) Lars Engberg (1943-2017) was a Danish politician for the Social Democratic Party. He was a member of the City Council of Copenhagen from 1982 to 2005, a member of the council for Region Hovedstaden, and finally an acting Lord Mayor of Copenhagen. 133 Quélin and Smadja | HEC PARIS | SMART CITIES | The sustainable program of six leading cities | 2021