Motivation: Smart cities can develop cutting-edge technology and innovative solutions and policies to improve urban life. Smart cities, like other emerging phenomena, have several contextual challenges that need to be addressed, and their implementation in low- and middle-income countries has characteristics that policy-makers might consider to improve contextual conditions in their strategies. Purpose: The article identifies the interconnected obstacles that hinder smart city implementation in Mashhad, Iran’s second-largest metropolis, and offers a comprehensive framework to address these. Methods and approach: The study used a qualitative research methodology. Due to the exploratory nature of the research, 15 semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with smart city experts in the municipality, the city council, and Mashhad universities. Grounded theory method (GTM) was deployed to develop the research framework. Findings: After analysing the data, eight themes and 29 sub-themes within three categories were classified, showing that Mashhad faces numerous challenges in the implementation of a smart city and practical policies and measures should be taken to address these challenges regarding institutional structure (such as lack of co-ordination among stakeholders and legal gaps), urban infrastructure (such as cost of implementation and privacy) and human. Policy implications: The socio-cultural, economic, political, and even ecological conditions of cities can influence the success of smart city policies, so each city will face a different set of challenges.

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