Creating a smart city is a long-term process related to planning a new urban structure, whereas knowledge of the history of the city’s and its area’s development is not without significance. The presented article shows how environmental factors that may have their sources in the past may impact the contemporary creation of a smart city. When planning the development of a smart city, it is impossible not to take into account the history of the city’s development in the past and the environment in which it was created. Changes in Kraków’s environment (the terrain, land forms, and water network) that have occurred over many years have undoubtedly a significant impact on the formation of a specific city profile – not only in terms of geography and climate (humidity, poor ventilation) but also in social, communication and cultural terms. These factors mean that the creation of smart-city in the case of Kraków will have to be slightly different than in the case of other cities with an environment that has been more stable over time. Apart from the lack of financial resources, the development of a smart city in Kraków is hampered by the lack of implemented solutions that would involve the local community in the co-management of the city. In addition, the Open Data concept, which allows public data to be opened and made available to residents in various digital formats, encouraging the creation of new services based thereon, still remains an untapped resource. Some cities, such as Wrocław, Poznań or Łódź have tried to make available some of the city’s data, albeit to a very small extent. Another problem is the lack of spatial planning and urban chaos. Reducing energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions is also a substantial challenge facing the local authorities. A majority of large Polish cities, especially in winter, exceed the permissible air pollution standards, which automatically excludes them from the group of smart cities.