IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v15y2023i10p8082-d1148096.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Smart City Results and Sustainability: Current Progress and Emergent Opportunities for Future Research

Author

Listed:
  • J. Ramon Gil-Garcia

    (Center for Technology in Government & Rockefeller College of Public Affairs and Policy, University at Albany, State University of New York, 1400 Washington Avenue, UAB 120, Albany, NY 12222, USA
    Business School, Universidad de las Américas Puebla, Ex Hacienda Sta. Catarina Mártir S/N, San Andrés Cholula, Puebla 72810, Mexico)

  • Tzuhao Chen

    (Center for Technology in Government & Rockefeller College of Public Affairs and Policy, University at Albany, State University of New York, 1400 Washington Avenue, UAB 120, Albany, NY 12222, USA)

  • Mila Gasco-Hernandez

    (Center for Technology in Government & Rockefeller College of Public Affairs and Policy, University at Albany, State University of New York, 1400 Washington Avenue, UAB 120, Albany, NY 12222, USA)

Abstract

The notion of sustainability has gained increasing popularity in smart city research. While numerous studies have focused on how smart city initiatives either undermine or contribute to sustainability, a few essential questions remain unanswered. First, a vast body of knowledge has been accumulated on the results of smart cities, particularly their short-term outputs. However, it is not clear how those results can be sustained over time. Second, most of the existing literature touches on environmental and economic sustainability, whereas other perspectives, such as social and cultural sustainability, are still underexplored. Given these gaps, this study seeks to contribute to the sustainability and smart city literature by answering the following research questions: (1) To what extent have the results of smart city initiatives been addressed in previous studies? and (2) To what extent have smart city scholars addressed the different dimensions of sustainability? A narrative literature review was conducted. Our findings indicate that the sustainability of smart cities can be understood in two ways—the duration of results and the multi-dimensional long-term sustainability goals. Based on the findings, this study proposes a few intersections of the two concepts and an agenda to guide future research on sustainability in smart cities.

Suggested Citation

  • J. Ramon Gil-Garcia & Tzuhao Chen & Mila Gasco-Hernandez, 2023. "Smart City Results and Sustainability: Current Progress and Emergent Opportunities for Future Research," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(10), pages 1-17, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:15:y:2023:i:10:p:8082-:d:1148096
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/10/8082/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/10/8082/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Corina M. Rădulescu & Svitlana Slava & Adrian T. Rădulescu & Rita Toader & Diana-Cezara Toader & Grațiela Dana Boca, 2020. "A Pattern of Collaborative Networking for Enhancing Sustainability of Smart Cities," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(3), pages 1-23, February.
    2. Luisa Errichiello & Roberto Micera, 2018. "Leveraging Smart Open Innovation for Achieving Cultural Sustainability: Learning from a New City Museum Project," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(6), pages 1-23, June.
    3. Ackermann, Tobias & Miede, André & Buxmann, Peter & Steinmetz, Ralf, 2011. "Taxonomy of Technological IT Outsourcing Risks: Support for Risk Identification and Quantification," Publications of Darmstadt Technical University, Institute for Business Studies (BWL) 52207, Darmstadt Technical University, Department of Business Administration, Economics and Law, Institute for Business Studies (BWL).
    4. Yigitcanlar, Tan & Han, Hoon & Kamruzzaman, Md. & Ioppolo, Giuseppe & Sabatini-Marques, Jamile, 2019. "The making of smart cities: Are Songdo, Masdar, Amsterdam, San Francisco and Brisbane the best we could build?," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    5. Robert G. Hollands, 2008. "Will the real smart city please stand up?," City, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 12(3), pages 303-320, December.
    6. Si Ying Tan & Araz Taeihagh, 2020. "Smart City Governance in Developing Countries: A Systematic Literature Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(3), pages 1-29, January.
    7. Lee, Jung Hoon & Phaal, Robert & Lee, Sang-Ho, 2013. "An integrated service-device-technology roadmap for smart city development," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 80(2), pages 286-306.
    8. Gemma Galdon-Clavell, 2013. "(Not so) smart cities?: The drivers, impact and risks of surveillance-enabled smart environments," Science and Public Policy, Oxford University Press, vol. 40(6), pages 717-723, October.
    9. Alan Wiig, 2015. "IBM's smart city as techno-utopian policy mobility," City, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 19(2-3), pages 258-273, June.
    10. Paul Pierce & Francesca Ricciardi & Alessandro Zardini, 2017. "Smart Cities as Organizational Fields: A Framework for Mapping Sustainability-Enabling Configurations," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(9), pages 1-21, August.
    11. Mikel Zubiaga & Jose Luis Izkara & Alessandra Gandini & Itziar Alonso & Unai Saralegui, 2019. "Towards Smarter Management of Overtourism in Historic Centres Through Visitor-Flow Monitoring," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(24), pages 1-23, December.
    12. Robert G. Hollands, 2015. "Critical interventions into the corporate smart city," Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 8(1), pages 61-77.
    13. Federico Fontana, 2014. "The Smart City and the Creation of Local Public Value," Progress in IS, in: Renata Paola Dameri & Camille Rosenthal-Sabroux (ed.), Smart City, edition 127, pages 117-137, Springer.
    14. Caragliu, Andrea & Del Bo, Chiara F., 2019. "Smart innovative cities: The impact of Smart City policies on urban innovation," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 142(C), pages 373-383.
    15. Dorel N Manitiu & Giulio Pedrini, 2016. "Urban smartness and sustainability in Europe. An assessment of environmental, social and cultural domains," European Planning Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 24(10), pages 1766-1787, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Battulga Buyannemekh & Mila Gasco-Hernandez & J. Ramon Gil-Garcia, 2024. "Fostering Smart Citizens: The Role of Public Libraries in Smart City Development," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(5), pages 1-26, February.
    2. Seyid Abdellahi Ebnou Abdem & Jérôme Chenal & El Bachir Diop & Rida Azmi & Meriem Adraoui & Cédric Stéphane Tekouabou Koumetio, 2023. "Using Logistic Regression to Predict Access to Essential Services: Electricity and Internet in Nouakchott, Mauritania," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(23), pages 1-28, November.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Johannes Stübinger & Lucas Schneider, 2020. "Understanding Smart City—A Data-Driven Literature Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(20), pages 1-23, October.
    2. Kummitha, Rama Krishna Reddy, 2018. "Entrepreneurial urbanism and technological panacea: Why Smart City planning needs to go beyond corporate visioning?," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 137(C), pages 330-339.
    3. Jalaluddin Abdul Malek & Seng Boon Lim & Tan Yigitcanlar, 2021. "Social Inclusion Indicators for Building Citizen-Centric Smart Cities: A Systematic Literature Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(1), pages 1-29, January.
    4. Mora, Luca & Deakin, Mark & Reid, Alasdair, 2019. "Strategic principles for smart city development: A multiple case study analysis of European best practices," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 142(C), pages 70-97.
    5. André Luis Azevedo Guedes & Jeferson Carvalho Alvarenga & Maurício Dos Santos Sgarbi Goulart & Martius Vicente Rodriguez y Rodriguez & Carlos Alberto Pereira Soares, 2018. "Smart Cities: The Main Drivers for Increasing the Intelligence of Cities," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(9), pages 1-19, August.
    6. Diogo Correia & Leonor Teixeira & João Lourenço Marques, 2021. "Reviewing the State-of-the-Art of Smart Cities in Portugal: Evidence Based on Content Analysis of a Portuguese Magazine," Publications, MDPI, vol. 9(4), pages 1-30, October.
    7. Kummitha, Rama Krishna Reddy, 2020. "Why distance matters: The relatedness between technology development and its appropriation in smart cities," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 157(C).
    8. Francesco Schiavone & Francesco Paolo Appio & Luca Mora & Marcello Risitano, 2020. "The strategic, organizational, and entrepreneurial evolution of smart cities," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 16(4), pages 1155-1165, December.
    9. Kummitha, Rama Krishna Reddy, 2019. "Smart cities and entrepreneurship: An agenda for future research," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 149(C).
    10. Schiavone, Francesco & Paolone, Francesco & Mancini, Daniela, 2019. "Business model innovation for urban smartization," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 142(C), pages 210-219.
    11. Marchesani, Filippo & Masciarelli, Francesca & Bikfalvi, Andrea, 2023. "Smart city as a hub for talent and innovative companies: Exploring the (dis) advantages of digital technology implementation in cities," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 193(C).
    12. Secinaro, Silvana & Brescia, Valerio & Lanzalonga, Federico & Santoro, Gabriele, 2022. "Smart city reporting: A bibliometric and structured literature review analysis to identify technological opportunities and challenges for sustainable development," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 149(C), pages 296-313.
    13. Jooseok Oh & Minho Seo, 2021. "Measuring Citizens-Centric Smart City: Development and Validation of Ex-Post Evaluation Framework," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(20), pages 1-22, October.
    14. Karimikia, Hadi & Bradshaw, Robert & Singh, Harminder & Ojo, Adegboyega & Donnellan, Brian & Guerin, Michael, 2022. "An emergent taxonomy of boundary spanning in the smart city context – The case of smart Dublin," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 185(C).
    15. Desdemoustier, Jonathan & Crutzen, Nathalie & Giffinger, Rudolf, 2019. "Municipalities' understanding of the Smart City concept: An exploratory analysis in Belgium," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 142(C), pages 129-141.
    16. Jitka Fialová & Dastan Bamwesigye & Jan Łukaszkiewicz & Beata Fortuna-Antoszkiewicz, 2021. "Smart Cities Landscape and Urban Planning for Sustainability in Brno City," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(8), pages 1-17, August.
    17. Miguel Manjon & Zineb Aouni & Nathalie Crutzen, 2022. "Green and digital entrepreneurship in smart cities," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 68(2), pages 429-462, April.
    18. Mora, Luca & Gerli, Paolo & Ardito, Lorenzo & Messeni Petruzzelli, Antonio, 2023. "Smart city governance from an innovation management perspective: Theoretical framing, review of current practices, and future research agenda," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 123(C).
    19. Andreani, Stefano & Kalchschmidt, Matteo & Pinto, Roberto & Sayegh, Allen, 2019. "Reframing technologically enhanced urban scenarios: A design research model towards human centered smart cities," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 142(C), pages 15-25.
    20. Isara Khanjanasthiti & Kayalvizhi Sundarraj Chandrasekar & Bhishna Bajracharya, 2021. "Making the Gold Coast a Smart City—An Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(19), pages 1-18, September.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:15:y:2023:i:10:p:8082-:d:1148096. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.