September 2015 – Smart Cities : A Legal Analysis

The legal basis

The former Honorable Minister of Finance and Economic Development announced the creation of "Smart Cities" in his last budget and a lot has been said on these Cities since then. The Investment Promotion Act 2000 ("IPA 2000") was amended to introduce the concept of the "Smart City Scheme" ("SCS") and subsequently the Investment Promotion (Smart City Scheme) Regulations 2015 were made by the Minister under Section 12 and 28 of the IPA 2000. These Regulations are relatively complex and provide for the SCS, its objects and how to develop a project under the Scheme. They also create the SCS Technical Committee which shall examine all applications to set up an SCS and ultimately deliver the SCS Certificate. The whole matter is under the constant administration of the Board of Investment ("BOI").