Due to high level of urbanization and economic growth rate of GCC countries the issues of smart cities development are becoming increasingly important for this region. The goal of this paper is to set a number of economic components that can influence the design, implementation and use of smart cities initiatives in GCC. The authors analyse the current strategies of smart cities in 6 countries (Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, UAE). As part of economic dimension authors analyse public expenditure on R&D, on education, national income, GDP growth rate in order to figure out challenges and prospects of developing smart cities in GCC.