More than half of the world's people live in cities. By 2050, it will be nearly seven in ten. Cities account for more than 70% of global carbon emissions and 60-80% of energy consumption. Rapid urbanization has created additional challenges, such as social inequality, traffic congestion, water contamination, associated health issues and so on.
Governments and municipalities can use information and communication technologies (ICTs), in combination with renewable energy and other technologies, to build smarter and more sustainable cities for their citizens. A smart sustainable city is innovative. It uses ICTs to improve people's quality of life, make urban operations and services more efficient, and boost its competitiveness while ensuring that it meets the economic, social, environmental, and cultural needs of present and future generations.
Many countries in the Global South are lagging in terms of making their cities smart and sustainable. However, in recent years many of them are aspiring to become smart and sustainable and some of them have shown clear intent and have taken initiative in this direction to transform the cities. Moreover, UN Sustainable Development Goal 11 (SDGs) has envisioned creating sustainable cities and communities. The use of advanced technology, for example,
Information Communication Technology (ICT) has been argued to be one of the enablers for such transformation and acceleration to create smart and sustainable cities and communities.
Although a certain amount of research has been conducted on sustainable cities, research on smart cities is still an emerging issue in the Global South. Moreover, many of the studies have used conventional qualitative and qualitative methodological approaches. Researches using advanced quantitative methods such as Applied System Analyses (ASA), Agent-Based Modelling
(ABM), Structural Equation Modelling (SEM), Multi-Criteria Decision Making (MCDM), Artificial Intelligence (AI), etc., are scarce. Studies using such methodological approaches are likely to offer higher insights into the challenges and innovative paradigms for smart and sustainable cities.
The goal is to examine the challenges of cities and explore new and innovative paradigms for smart and sustainable cities in Global South through advanced methodological approaches. The research questions that are envisaged but to be explored but not limited to are:
How would a smart city be defined in the context of the Global South within the constraints of current urban development? What is the vision? What are the defining characteristics or What
makes a city smart and sustainable?
How smartness can bring sustainability and vice versa?
How the existing infrastructure, for example, water, energy, transportation, etc., the system can be transformed and retrofitted and what new infrastructure is needed and how they would be created?
Does the development of smart cities in the Global South improve people's lives?
What would be the implications of advanced technology-enabled smart cities on the ecological and environmental sustainability of cities in the wake of climate change concerns?
What can be regarded as AI, IoT, and Big Data in the context of urban planning and design and what would be their implications on Urban Planning Practice?
What are the assessment performance metrics and computational cost of the IoT Infrastructures in support of Smart Cities and Transportation?
Original manuscripts and case study articles that address the challenges of smart and sustainable cities in the Global South by use of innovative and advanced methodological approaches, and data, are solicited. Also, articles on new planning and implementation approaches, and urban planning practices are welcome. The various subthemes that would contribute to smart and sustainable cities, which can be considered but not limited to are:
Smart mobility system
Smart Water and wastewater management system governance
Solid waste management system governance
Energy consumption management system governance
Environmental and ecological challenges such as Air quality and noise pollution management system governance
Case studies and success stories or plausible implications of advanced technology (ICT), IoT, 4IR.
Smart local governance system
Nexus between economy, transportation and environment
Keywords:
sustainable governance, city-wide nexus, smart cities, sustainability, technology for decision support
Important Note:
All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.
More than half of the world's people live in cities. By 2050, it will be nearly seven in ten. Cities account for more than 70% of global carbon emissions and 60-80% of energy consumption. Rapid urbanization has created additional challenges, such as social inequality, traffic congestion, water contamination, associated health issues and so on.
Governments and municipalities can use information and communication technologies (ICTs), in combination with renewable energy and other technologies, to build smarter and more sustainable cities for their citizens. A smart sustainable city is innovative. It uses ICTs to improve people's quality of life, make urban operations and services more efficient, and boost its competitiveness while ensuring that it meets the economic, social, environmental, and cultural needs of present and future generations.
Many countries in the Global South are lagging in terms of making their cities smart and sustainable. However, in recent years many of them are aspiring to become smart and sustainable and some of them have shown clear intent and have taken initiative in this direction to transform the cities. Moreover, UN Sustainable Development Goal 11 (SDGs) has envisioned creating sustainable cities and communities. The use of advanced technology, for example,
Information Communication Technology (ICT) has been argued to be one of the enablers for such transformation and acceleration to create smart and sustainable cities and communities.
Although a certain amount of research has been conducted on sustainable cities, research on smart cities is still an emerging issue in the Global South. Moreover, many of the studies have used conventional qualitative and qualitative methodological approaches. Researches using advanced quantitative methods such as Applied System Analyses (ASA), Agent-Based Modelling
(ABM), Structural Equation Modelling (SEM), Multi-Criteria Decision Making (MCDM), Artificial Intelligence (AI), etc., are scarce. Studies using such methodological approaches are likely to offer higher insights into the challenges and innovative paradigms for smart and sustainable cities.
The goal is to examine the challenges of cities and explore new and innovative paradigms for smart and sustainable cities in Global South through advanced methodological approaches. The research questions that are envisaged but to be explored but not limited to are:
How would a smart city be defined in the context of the Global South within the constraints of current urban development? What is the vision? What are the defining characteristics or What
makes a city smart and sustainable?
How smartness can bring sustainability and vice versa?
How the existing infrastructure, for example, water, energy, transportation, etc., the system can be transformed and retrofitted and what new infrastructure is needed and how they would be created?
Does the development of smart cities in the Global South improve people's lives?
What would be the implications of advanced technology-enabled smart cities on the ecological and environmental sustainability of cities in the wake of climate change concerns?
What can be regarded as AI, IoT, and Big Data in the context of urban planning and design and what would be their implications on Urban Planning Practice?
What are the assessment performance metrics and computational cost of the IoT Infrastructures in support of Smart Cities and Transportation?
Original manuscripts and case study articles that address the challenges of smart and sustainable cities in the Global South by use of innovative and advanced methodological approaches, and data, are solicited. Also, articles on new planning and implementation approaches, and urban planning practices are welcome. The various subthemes that would contribute to smart and sustainable cities, which can be considered but not limited to are:
Smart mobility system
Smart Water and wastewater management system governance
Solid waste management system governance
Energy consumption management system governance
Environmental and ecological challenges such as Air quality and noise pollution management system governance
Case studies and success stories or plausible implications of advanced technology (ICT), IoT, 4IR.
Smart local governance system
Nexus between economy, transportation and environment
Keywords:
sustainable governance, city-wide nexus, smart cities, sustainability, technology for decision support
Important Note:
All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.