Intelligent and Environmentally Friendly Solutions in Smart Cities’ Development—Empirical Evidence from Poland

This study presents a comprehensive analysis aiming to identify the implementation level of intelligent and environmentally friendly solutions (IEFS) in cities in Poland, and barriers impeding their development. Based on a representative sample of 280 cities, it was evident that the implementation level of IEFS in Poland is relatively very low. The most common barriers to IEFS implementation as indicated by representatives of city authorities were high costs, lack of adequate funds, and lack of awareness of benefits resulting from applying IEFS. Nevertheless, regression analyses showed that the IEFS implementation level was mostly affected by cities’ population size and perception of individual IEFS as integral elements of the smart city concept. It was also revealed that the high costs of implementing IEFS, the lack of their inclusion in local development strategies, the lack of appropriate legal regulations, the lack of widespread good practices, and the resistance of inhabitants to change and to new technologies perceived as impediments had significant negative effects on the implementation level of specific IEFS. Furthermore, the analyses demonstrated that perceiving certain issues as barriers did not hinder the implementation of such solutions. Based on a discussion of the results, relevant recommendations and directions for future research are proposed.