Challenges in Developing and Implementing Smart City in Palangka Raya

The implementation of smart city in Palangka Raya is interesting to be studied because Palangka Raya has both urban and rural landscape. The most extensive of land use is forest with percentage around 72. There are many opportunities and challenges to implement the concept of smart city in Palangka Raya. Despite this uniqueness, the city government strives to implement the smart city concept in planning the city of Palangka Raya especially to face the challenges of urban development. The city government has a mission focused on Smart Environment, Smart Society, and Smart Economy as the concrete manifestation in supporting the realization of smart city. The purpose of this research is to describe the implementation of smart city and the challenges in implementing and developing smart city in Palangka Raya. This research uses a mixed qualitative and quantitative approach by using in-depth interviews, observation, and literature to collect data. Implementing smart city has become one of the development priorities in the city of Palangka Raya. However, the implementation has not been optimal since it is only focused on developing Internet networks in public spaces. The local government is also trying to develop applications and websites for public services. Various challenges are faced by the local government to develop smart city concept in Palangka Raya, especially to provide infrastructure which is constrained by the geographical conditions, limited budget, and the low quality of human resources. © 2021, Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.