Today, when competition between cities is growing in the global economy, and the rapid development of digitalization and the availability of electronic gadgets with Internet access for most of the population, the concept of a Smart City is increasingly used, which is aimed at introducing innovative technologies into the system of urban planning and management. This article presents the theoretical approaches of domestic and foreign researchers to the concept of “Smart City”, showing the stages through which the concept has passed. Researchers to the concept of “Smart City”, the stages through which the concept has gone are shown. The article considers and analyzes the practical experience of implementing the concept of a “smart city” in various countries. Therefore, the article presents indices showing the “smartness” of a smart city, both in large cities in the West and in Russian practice. The authors analyzed the data of the Ministry of Construction of the Russian Federation, provided data of empirical, comparative research on the practices of implementing the concept of “smart city” in Krasnodar, Chita, Tyumen, Gatchina, Novokuibyshevsk and large western cities and urban agglomerations: in Zurich (the “smartest” city in the world), Dubai and Barcelona.