The objective of the study was to analyse the theoretical model of development, ‘smart slow city’, based on two concepts of development of modern cities, i.e. ‘smart city’ and ‘slow city’. Conclusions mainly rely on the performed reference literature studies, which allowed for a synthetic presentation of the characteristics of the two discussed models of development, which are the basis for characterizing the hybrid model of the ‘smart slow city’. The comparison of city development models was made on the basis of the following characteristics: the genesis of the city development idea, the rate of changes and the model of life related to it, key city development factors, the main objective of changes, key actors, activity areas, specialization, scale of urban centres, city image, level of development policy, significance of cooperation etc.