What SmartCity.institute does

SmartCity.institute is a Germany-based research and consulting sole proprietorship founded in summer 2014 by Prof. h.c. Dr. Chirine Etezadzadeh under the THINK and GROW consult brand, with operations headquartered in Stuttgart and an additional office address in Ludwigsburg. The institute conducts interdisciplinary research on cities of the future, focusing on energy transition, mobility transformation, urban development, and cross-cutting issues such as digitization, sustainability, and resilience. It monetizes primarily through professional services consulting delivered to three named primary customer segments — municipal governments, energy companies (utilities transitioning from conventional generation to decentralized energy provision), and mobility companies/OEMs — with a secondary use-case segment in urban resilience.

The institute's core deliverables are non-software: a Springer Vieweg publication ('Smart City – Future City?', 2015) that introduces the proprietary 'Smart City 2.0' framework, plus direct consulting engagements covering vision development, business development, and product/service design for urban contexts. It also operates SmartCityNews.global, a free global smart city knowledge platform aggregating articles, projects, people, events, and hosting the SCN City Forum for city-to-city exchange. Distribution is anchored on the founder's personal brand, ongoing interdisciplinary lecturing at Technische Hochschule Köln (since SS 2014), the Springer publication, and organic social channels (LinkedIn, Facebook, Xing), with no formal reseller or channel partner network disclosed. Pricing is not publicly disclosed, no revenue figures are reported, no headcount is published, and no funding rounds or external investors are identified.

Name

SmartCity.institute

Legal name

Prof. h.c. Dr. Chirine Etezadzadeh

Website

https://smartcity.institute

Company type

Private

Founded year

2014

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

SmartCity.institute is a Germany-based sole proprietorship that provides research-based consulting on smart city transformation to municipal governments, energy companies, and mobility companies/OEMs, supported by the SmartCityNews.global knowledge platform and the founder's academic lecturing at Technische Hochschule Köln.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Urban Planning Consulting

NAICS

Administration of Housing Programs, Urban Planning, and Community Development (9251), Administration of Housing Programs, Urban Planning, and Community Development (925), Administration of Urban Planning and Community and Rural Development (92512)

SIC

Services-Management Consulting Services (8742)

akta.pro primary industry

Smart Cities & Urban Innovation Programs (Digital Planning, Civic Tech for Cities) (BPAIANAJ)

akta.pro secondary industry

Sustainable Cities, Urban Development & Green Infrastructure (BPADALAL)

Keywords

• Smart city consulting
• Urban resilience research
• Energy transition advisory
• Mobility transformation consulting
• Future city research

Headquarters

HQ city

Stuttgart

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Consulting Services: The institute provides consulting services for cities and industrial enterprises regarding their path to the future, with core services in vision development, business development, and designing customer-focused products and services for an urban context.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

SmartCity.institute is a research and consulting institute dedicated to cities of the future. It provides research-based consulting and analysis on smart city development, urban resilience, energy transition, mobility transformation, digitization, and sustainability. Its primary deliverables are strategic advisory engagements, applied research, expert publications, and curated knowledge resources for municipalities, energy companies, mobility providers, and other urban stakeholders.

Product overview

SmartCity.institute is a research institute focused on cities of the future, providing consulting services, conducting research, and building networks. The organization's primary offerings consist of its publication "Smart City – Future City?" and the free SmartCityNews.global knowledge platform. They do not offer commercial software products but rather informational resources and consulting services in the areas of energy, mobility, urban development, digitization, sustainability, and resilience.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• SmartCityNews.global: Free global smart city knowledge base platform compiling articles on urban issues and cross-sectoral information regarding projects, solutions, people, events, and featuring the SCN City Forum for cities worldwide.

Products and services

• Smart City Consulting Services

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• PwC (Cities & Local Government): Global professional services firm with a Cities & Local Government advisory practice addressing urbanization, infrastructure, and resilience. Comparable in delivering smart city transformation advisory to municipal and corporate clients, but with much broader portfolio.
• Boston Consulting Group (BCG) - Center for Cities & Mobility: Global consulting firm running a Center for Cities & Mobility that advises public and private clients on urban transformation, energy transition, and mobility. Highly comparable in the cross-sector (mobility + energy + cities) advisory positioning that SmartCity.institute pursues.
• Deloitte (Smart Cities & Urban Transformation): Big Four firm with a dedicated Smart Cities and urban transformation practice offering consulting to municipalities and utilities on digitalization, sustainability, and infrastructure. Comparable in serving municipal and energy clients on smart city strategy, though far broader in scope.
• Arthur D. Little (Urban & Sustainability Practice): Global management consulting firm running an Urban and Mobility/Sustainability practice advising on smart city strategy, energy transition, and mobility for public and private clients. Comparable as a cross-sector advisor to SmartCity.institute's municipal and OEM client base.
• McKinsey & Company (Smart Cities Practice): Global management consulting firm with a well-established Cities Special Initiative and Urban/smart cities practice advising municipalities on transformation strategy. Comparable to SmartCity.institute in advising cities on smart city strategy, but operates at vastly larger scale with global delivery teams.
• Roland Berger (Smart Cities and Infrastructure): German-headquartered global strategy consultancy with deep expertise in smart cities, mobility, and energy transition for European municipalities and corporates. A particularly close regional comparator to SmartCity.institute given shared DACH focus and similar client mix.

Direct peers

• Smart Cities Council: Global non-profit coalition advancing smart city adoption through publications, readiness guides, and a city member network. Comparable to SmartCityNews.global in operating a content/community platform for city-to-city smart city exchange and providing advisory-style frameworks.
• Guidehouse (formerly Navigant Research): Specialist research and consulting firm providing smart cities, energy, and mobility research and advisory to utilities, cities, and technology vendors. Closely comparable in combining proprietary research frameworks, city-focused advisory, and energy/mobility cross-sector expertise.
• Frost & Sullivan (Mobility & Urban Infrastructure): Global research and consulting firm with deep smart cities, mobility, and energy research practice producing frameworks, thought leadership, and advisory for cities and corporates. Closely comparable as a content/framework-driven advisor serving the same end markets as SmartCity.institute.

Emerging players

• EU Smart Cities Information System (SCIS): European Commission-supported initiative compiling smart city projects, knowledge, and best practices across EU municipalities. Comparable to SmartCity.institute's SmartCityNews.global platform in curating cross-sector urban innovation content and serving as a city-to-city exchange node.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/profile.php
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/smartcity-institute

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about SmartCity.institute