Toward sustainable social change: strategic approaches to smart city development in developing nations
Planning, governing processes, and making decisions are crucial elements for any societal change and the development of an urban circular economy. The fight for urban resources, environmental sustainability, maintaining the urban ecosystem, promoting a circular economy, and fulfilling public service...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2025-08-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Sustainable Cities |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/frsc.2025.1592534/full |
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| author | Harish Kumar Ashulekha Gupta Rajesh Singh Anu Sayal |
| author_facet | Harish Kumar Ashulekha Gupta Rajesh Singh Anu Sayal |
| author_sort | Harish Kumar |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Planning, governing processes, and making decisions are crucial elements for any societal change and the development of an urban circular economy. The fight for urban resources, environmental sustainability, maintaining the urban ecosystem, promoting a circular economy, and fulfilling public service demands has put pressure on existing governments to increase their efficiency and collaborative abilities to work in a smarter way. This study aims to explore various enablers that can improve city administration for smart cities. The factors are identified from the literature. The study follows the decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory (DEMATEL) approach. The experts have been consulted for the finalization of factors and for the establishment of the causal relationships using the DEMATEL technique to study the cross-inter-relationship among factors. The findings suggest the rankings of factors and classify them into cause-and-effect groups. The study finds influencing enablers that improve policy implementation, e-services, transparency, monitoring, and control abilities for smart city administration. The development of smart cities facilitates an established, interconnected, and sustainable urban system for a circular economy. The policymakers, officials, service providers, and urban planners would get benefit from the outcomes to plan the right initiatives for improvements in governance structure for the development of the smart cities. Although there has been a widespread literature on factors for improving governance, cause-and-effect relationships have not been explored. This study proposes a strategic framework for smart city governance and sustainable social change. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-3c92fe22bf7d4190a286d10d7aa8db1b |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2624-9634 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-08-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Sustainable Cities |
| spelling | doaj-art-3c92fe22bf7d4190a286d10d7aa8db1b2025-08-25T05:26:27ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Sustainable Cities2624-96342025-08-01710.3389/frsc.2025.15925341592534Toward sustainable social change: strategic approaches to smart city development in developing nationsHarish Kumar0Ashulekha Gupta1Rajesh Singh2Anu Sayal3Information Technology & Systems, Indian Institute of Management Kashipur, Kashipur, IndiaDepartment of Management Studies, Graphic Era University, Dehradun, Uttarakhand, IndiaOperations Management, Management Development Institute Gurgaon, Haryana, IndiaSchool of Accounting and Finance, Faculty of Business and Law, Taylor's University, Subang Jaya, Selangor Darul Ehsan, MalaysiaPlanning, governing processes, and making decisions are crucial elements for any societal change and the development of an urban circular economy. The fight for urban resources, environmental sustainability, maintaining the urban ecosystem, promoting a circular economy, and fulfilling public service demands has put pressure on existing governments to increase their efficiency and collaborative abilities to work in a smarter way. This study aims to explore various enablers that can improve city administration for smart cities. The factors are identified from the literature. The study follows the decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory (DEMATEL) approach. The experts have been consulted for the finalization of factors and for the establishment of the causal relationships using the DEMATEL technique to study the cross-inter-relationship among factors. The findings suggest the rankings of factors and classify them into cause-and-effect groups. The study finds influencing enablers that improve policy implementation, e-services, transparency, monitoring, and control abilities for smart city administration. The development of smart cities facilitates an established, interconnected, and sustainable urban system for a circular economy. The policymakers, officials, service providers, and urban planners would get benefit from the outcomes to plan the right initiatives for improvements in governance structure for the development of the smart cities. Although there has been a widespread literature on factors for improving governance, cause-and-effect relationships have not been explored. This study proposes a strategic framework for smart city governance and sustainable social change.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/frsc.2025.1592534/fullsmart administrationcity governancesmart cityurban societiesDEMATELcircular economy |
| spellingShingle | Harish Kumar Ashulekha Gupta Rajesh Singh Anu Sayal Toward sustainable social change: strategic approaches to smart city development in developing nations Frontiers in Sustainable Cities smart administration city governance smart city urban societies DEMATEL circular economy |
| title | Toward sustainable social change: strategic approaches to smart city development in developing nations |
| title_full | Toward sustainable social change: strategic approaches to smart city development in developing nations |
| title_fullStr | Toward sustainable social change: strategic approaches to smart city development in developing nations |
| title_full_unstemmed | Toward sustainable social change: strategic approaches to smart city development in developing nations |
| title_short | Toward sustainable social change: strategic approaches to smart city development in developing nations |
| title_sort | toward sustainable social change strategic approaches to smart city development in developing nations |
| topic | smart administration city governance smart city urban societies DEMATEL circular economy |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/frsc.2025.1592534/full |
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