- Smart cities aim to use technology to address urban challenges and improve lives, but funding smart city initiatives is difficult, especially wider deployments beyond pilots. - The cities of Cambridge and Cambridgeshire are facing significant budget cuts and require savings of over £100 million by 2020, with most spending going to health and social care. - "Aspirin" solutions like smart street lighting can ease budgetary pain with proven energy savings, while "vitamin" solutions to stimulate growth currently lack funding sources. - New funding and business models are needed to scale up smart cities and help fund "vitamin" solutions through approaches like capital funding, collaboration, and attracting private sector investment.