Trends, obstacles, and opportunities for smart cities in urban space: A systematic literature review
Urbanisation and digitalisation are two significant trends in social development nowadays. The ‘smart city’ has been introduced to address the conflict between citizens’ needs and urban services. However, while much attention has been directed towards the technological aspects, fewer studies have ex...
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| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
University of the Free State
2025-06-01
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| Series: | Town and Regional Planning |
| Online Access: | https://journals.ufs.ac.za/index.php/trp/article/view/8581 |
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| Summary: | Urbanisation and digitalisation are two significant trends in social development nowadays. The ‘smart city’ has been introduced to address the conflict between citizens’ needs and urban services. However, while much attention has been directed towards the technological aspects, fewer studies have explored their urban impacts. This article presents a systematic review of the existing empirical literature on smart cities in urban space, aiming to investigate the trends of the research, and emphasise obstacles and potential opportunities for smart cities in urban space. The review covers 53 articles obtained from the Web of Science (WoS) and Scopus databases and followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) statement. The findings reveal three main trends (smart city as a technique, as a tool, and as a way), five major obstacles (technological hegemony; surveillance and privacy; data integration difficulties; marginalisation and regional inequality; technocracy and discrimination), and four potential opportunities (interdisciplinary collaboration; platform integrations; inclusive citizen engagement; localised adaptive approaches) related to the objectives. Furthermore, the article highlights several recommendations related to context-based responsive planning strategies for local needs; a comprehensive examination of user perception frameworks; the integration of participatory approaches for more inclusive cities, and standardised measurement protocols for information exchange. This review contributes to policymakers and urban planners in their practices, provides valuable guidance to academics in various fields, and delivers implications for applying smart city concepts in the Global South and other developing countries. |
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| ISSN: | 1012-280X 2415-0495 |