The development of smart cities has been a significant trend in recent years, aiming to improve the quality of life of citizens by leveraging technology and data. However, the current models of smart cities have limitations in terms of their centralized control and lack of citizen participation. City 5.0 proposes a new paradigm for smart cities that emphasizes the symbiotic relationship between humans and technology. This article presents the concept of Spatial Symbiotic Intelligence, which refers to the ability of a city to dynamically respond to the needs of its citizens and environment through the integration of data from various sources and the use of Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs) and parallel systems. This letter also discusses the potential benefits and challenges of implementing City 5.0 and highlights some of the ongoing initiatives in this area.
Smart Cities and Technologies
Human Mobility and Location-Based Analysis
Innovative Approaches in Technology and Social Development
Purpose The purpose of this study is to understand the public value of the government of Kuwait using blockchain technology to develop the capabilities of smart cities. Design/methodology/approach Research was conducted in Kuwait, where the increased use of blockchain technology has been evidenced in both the private and public sectors. A total of seven IT managers were interviewed to gauge their responses to blockchain and its use in Kuwait ministries. Findings Blockchain technology offers many benefits for the development of smart cities in Kuwait. This is a statement that received almost mutual agreement amongst all the IT managers interviewed. However, as regards wider acceptance, the majority mentioned that a framework is necessary to better articulate the public value of using blockchain in smart cities in Kuwait. Originality/value This paper develops research hypotheses and a framework for articulating the public value of blockchain technology for smart cities in Kuwait.
The combination between innovative topics and emerging technologies lets researchers define new processes and models. New needs regard the definition of modular and scalable approaches, with society and environment in mind. An important topic to focus on is the smart city one. The use of emerging technologies lets smart cities develop new processes to improve services offered from various actors, either industries or government. Smart cities were born to improve quality of life for citizens. To reach this goal, various approaches have been proposed, but they lack on a common interface to let each stakeholder communicate in a simple and fast way. This paper shows the proposal of an architecture to overcome the actual limitations of smart cities: it uses Blockchain technology as a distributed database to let everyone join the network and feel part of a community. Blockchain can improve processes development for smart cities. Scalability is granted thanks to a context-aware approach: applications do not need to know about the back-end implementation, they just need to adapt to an interface. With Blockchain, it is possible to collect data anonymously to make some statistical analysis, to access public records to ensure security in the city and to guarantee the origin of products and energy.
Parece que todo um mundo novo de tecnologia, trabalho e lazer está agora a começar. O Metaverso é o sucessor da Internet, um mundo virtual 3D, uma rede de experiências e dispositivos interligados, ferramentas e infraestruturas, muito além da mera realidade. Web 3, blockchains e NFT (non-fungible token). Esta nova Internet não está apenas no telemóvel ou no computador, em vez disso rodear-nos-á, nas nossas vidas, no trabalho e lazer, e assim será sobretudo para a nova geração, para quem o Metaverso será simplesmente uma extensão psicológica perfeitamente natural de tudo o que já conheceu. Quem concebe as cidades inteligentes projeta-as ainda no mundo dos homens, não as pensa no Metaverso, mas isto não nos impede de equacionar a cidade no Metaverso e refletir como a implementação das cidades é aceleradamente dinâmica, de tal modo que o que hoje se configura como cidade do futuro já amanhã é realidade, levando-nos a pensar na própria transformação do conceito e na variação de indicadores sobre a implementação de cidades inteligentes. De resto, se ontem a cidade inteligente correspondia sobretudo à cidade sustentável, rapidamente passou a ser a cidade digital e algorítmica.Não há como recusar o desafio, pois, ironicamente quem, num futuro não tão longínquo, estiver fora do Metaverso estará fora do mundo. E é para essa cidade, talvez uma cidade mais perto de Deus, que brevemente nos deslocaremos, no séc. XXI.
Smart cities aim to enhance the quality of life for citizens by integrating information technology in various aspects of daily life. This paper focuses on recent innovations in the integration of two prominent technologies, artificial intelligence (AI) and blockchain, to manage complex interactions between smart connected devices, individuals, government agencies, and the private sector. By conducting a systematic scientometric analysis and visualization of 505 articles published between 2017 and 2023, we uncover the social, conceptual, and intellectual structures of the literature in this field through co-authorship, co-word, and co-citation networks. Our analysis identifies key insights, research hotspots, specialties, and emerging trends by examining important nodes in the bibliometric networks. The findings of this study can be of interest to both academics and practitioners working in the fields of AI, blockchain, and smart cities.
Le Anh Nguyen Long, Shenja van der Graaf, Athanasios Votsis
Borrowing from insights produced in urban planning, media and governance studies thereby leveraging the Ostrom-nian ideas of institutions and polycentricity, this paper examines how to govern commons in the smart city. It offers a reflection upon whether Distributed Ledger Technologies (DLTs) could be a key notion for the commons discourse which centers around stakeholders, self-organization, and a rights-based framework. By decentralizing ledgers and enabling the interoperability of the various interfaces, DLTs make records more accessible, exchanges more transparent, and reduce costs while increasing efficiency, and permit automation, therefore commoning interactions both offline and online are facilitated. We argue that the use of DLTs to preserve the spatiotemporal integrity of key urban spaces is a common value question that needs to be elucidated or renegotiated in order to provide any useful guidance to DLTs integrity-preserving potential. In doing so, we draw attention to DLT-based urban commons and urban governance, and point to inherent incompatibilities that may lead to radical and not-so-smooth changes in urban institutions, while providing a way of thinking which can move the smart city closer towards a values-centered process and away from a preoccupation with technology and efficiency.
Technological imaginaries have been increasingly shaping the future perceptions of cities. From artificial intelligence and distributed ledger technology to three-dimensional printing, high-tech artifacts are very often the premises of such imaginaries. However, technology does not only refer to artifacts. Technology also encompasses the processes around the artifacts: how the artifacts are designed, manufactured, used, maintained, and disposed. From this perspective, high-tech visions often disregard problems that pertain to resource extraction, labor exploitation, energy use, and material flows. On the contrary, low-tech and localized alternatives incite lower impact and higher resilience visions. However, they fail to offer solutions of the desired scale and intensity. To address this tension, we provide an alternative vision for mid-tech: a balance between the opposite extreme qualities of low-tech and high-tech. Through a case of open-source prosthetics, we illustrate how to synergistically combine the efficiency and versatility of high-tech solutions with the potential for autonomy and resilience that low-tech offers. Then we discuss a mid-tech approach for distributed ledger technology from a city as a license lens. We provide connections with existing or conceptual applications to show how distributed ledger technology could support more socially and ecologically responsible data practices for city governance.
Cities have been growing at an impressive rate, and with the advancement of technology and digitization, new ways have been proposed to provide cities with a certain level of autonomy and intelligence so that they can self-regulate tasks that currently take a lot of time for both citizens and authorities, and which also have a negative impact on the environment. We have recently experienced one of the most abrupt changes in history as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, where millions of people, businesses, schools, companies, governments, etc., have had to modify their ways of working, in addition to dealing with many other changes in the present moment, the most important of which is the transition to electronic transactions. This is a chance to progress toward smart city transformation and the implementation of models that assist citizens in their ordinary activities. One of the most common activities is the purchase of real estate. In this study, we propose a model to make the purchase and sale of real estate more equitable and fairer, and not just based on the amount of money. A smart home should be able to identify who its current owner is by functioning as an IoT badge, and, after the subject’s identity has been verified, it should be granted full access to all services, or else it should be blocked and/or alerted to the authorities. The use of smart contracts in a blockchain to transfer ownership of a smart home that includes, as inputs, those interested in acquiring a specific house and, as outputs, a person who chose the system based on the requirements previously established by the government of the Smart City. As a result, susceptibility to fraud or interference by a third person is reduced, and an individual’s security of living in a smart home, and therefore, in a smart city, is strengthened.
Aleksandar Ivić, Andjela Milicevic, Dušan Krstić, Nina Kozma · 5 authors
Over the past decades, governments around the world are implementing a variety of digital solutions in order to enhance the effectiveness, efficiency, and transparency of public services. By using modern information and communication technologies (ICT), citizens are provided with an easier, faster, and more secure way of accessing different types of data. Previous studies on e-government have given important insights into the differences between traditional government systems and digital, e-government. The research was conducted by the systematic literature review guidelines by Kitchenham for papers published between 2016 and 2021 and aims to identify main technologies that are adequate to be used in the context of e-government, by presenting key challenges, as well as opportunities and possible risks of adopting such solutions in public sector services. The results obtained suggest that pairing governance with modern information systems, such as artificial intelligence (AI), internet of things (IoT) and blockchain technology, if used properly, can contribute to achieving a higher level of quality of public services and encouragement of citizens' trust and further political activity. Therefore, the present study concluded that there is a significant dependency between a successful e-government implementation and the country's established legal foundations, available technical infrastructures, perceived public trust, as well as social and economical conditions.
The advancement in blockchain applications in the smart sustainable city infrastructure is evaluated in this paper through a comprehensive mapping review. The evaluation is carried out by posing four research questions that address current developments in blockchain technology in the context of smart cities and point out areas where additional study is needed. This study also includes a scoping of blockchain applications in a smart city context to highlight the obstacles to incorporating blockchain technology into smart city infrastructure. Finally, some suggestions for overcoming the problems of incorporating blockchain technology with smart city infrastructure are offered. This research will help researchers and policymakers gain a better understanding of blockchain applications in smart cities.
A smart city can be defined as an integration of systems comprising a plethora of task-oriented technologies that aim to evolve and advance with city and infrastructure needs while providing services to citizens and resolving urban challenges through intersystem and data-driven analytical means, with minimal human intervention. Applications of technology include management, operations, and finance. One such technology is Blockchain. A main advantage of Blockchain is the simplification of processes that are costly and time-consuming. This is accomplished by simplifying operations to minimize costs resulting from the decentralization of assets. Blockchain has been proven to facilitate transparency, security, and the elimination of data fragmentation. However, as a relatively new technology, it poses regulatory obstacles. This issue can be attributed to the fact that many infrastructural governing organizations have incomplete knowledge of their infrastructure, which can lead to confusion when attempting to comprehend the different elements of the infrastructure, resulting in a lack of direction when trying to solve a problem. This paper explores the different applications of Blockchain technology in the sectors of energy, transportation, water, construction, and government, and provides a mechanism for implementing this technology in smart cities. As a present component of infrastructure management systems, Blockchain may potentially serve as the initial step toward upgrading infrastructure technology.
Emerging growth in technology has rapidly changed our homes and cities. Present homes and cities will be upgraded to smart homes and smart cities in the near future. Various solutions used to build the smart-city network demand a scalable and decentralized solution. This study proposes a blockchain-empowered decentralized and scalable solution for a sustainable smart-city network. The Internet of Things (IoT), fog nodes, permissioned trust chain, smart contract, blockchain, and InterPlanetary file system (IPFS) are deployed to construct a scalable and decentralized solution for a sustainable smart city. Three main public sector departments, i.e., electricity, water supply, and health care, are studied over the proposed solution. The proposed solution is implemented over constrained application protocol (CoAP) and Ethereum blockchain. The performance of the proposed model is evaluated for 1500 devices and over 10,000 records. A total 77.44% improvement is registered during performance evaluation over a scalable environment. The performance evaluation of each case study and collaborative performance evaluation concludes the improvised performance of the proposed solution for scalable and distributed applications. Better performance, scalability, and the distributed nature of the presented model make it suitable for the sustainable smart-city network.
A smart city is a comprehensive concept created by multiple digital industries. Smart city is a new generation of information technologies such as the Internet of Things, cloud computing, big data, and geospatial information to promote smart new ideas for urban planning, construction, management and services, power city operation and administrative management, industrial development, and public services in various fields. It is a modern high-end urban development form. A smart city is to establish a city center system by connecting terminals, applying information technology and network, and ultimately promoting the efficiency improvement and economic structure optimization in various fields. However, in the construction of smart cities, due to the sharing of a large amount of data, a lot of data leakage is caused, and data protection faces many challenges. The article first introduces the structure of smart cities, the challenges faced by smart cities in data protection and data privacy protection; then summarizes the characteristics, applications, and challenges of blockchain technology in the application of blockchain in smart cities, and makes reference to references. The corresponding comparisons are made, and the future challenges are finally summarized and proposed.
S. Palmieri, Mario Bisson, Alessandro Ianniello, Riccardo Palomba · 5 authors
The expected demographic densification presents specific critical points where op-portunities for improving citizens' lives can be identified. For this reason, projects are underway to analyze and explore the dynamics of cities to adapt to new con-texts. Several European cities, including Milan, Paris, and Barcelona, are already implementing changes to encourage new types of neighborhood organizations which revolve around the concept of proximity, and primary services close to home. In this context, it seems fundamental to seek connectivity, encouraging new forms of relationships between citizens. The use of new digital tools, such as blockchain, favors new types of autonomous organizations that can manage activities on a neighborhood scale. Design should propose suitable and innovative models of ap-plication and act as a facilitator for their implementation. Through design, it is also possible to identify guidelines for the relationships in a neighborhood and to define activities and experiences with which citizens can relate.
With advances in Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in convergence with blockchain technology, cities have been given the opportunity to improve their services, efficiently use resources, and, thus, become Smart Cities. The main properties of blockchain technology like decentralization, immutability, transparency, consensus, and robustness are qualities needed for Smart City. In this paper, we propose a digitalization strategy for the City of Osijek. Smart City digitalization strategy aims to solve problems of emerging urbanization, improve administration by reducing energy and water consumption, carbon emissions, pollution, and city waste management. To develop an information system based on blockchain technology, the administration structure and the current state of information systems are analyzed, and new solutions are presented.
Today, the world mainly relies on information that is generated and distributed among the public on a large scale, but unfortunately, the authenticity of the information is always in question. Recently, a new technological breakthrough called blockchain has redefined the enterprise of “trust”, making the information business inherently trustworthy. This chapter will focus on the ongoing exploration of blockchain, a distributed ledger technology (DLT) that is considered disruptive in the industry due to its unique transparent and tamper-proof features and how it has opened up new opportunities in various sectors, including government services, whose application can provide operational efficiency and transparency in the system and create value for citizens. Similarly, with the advent of Digital India Initiatives, the government of India is moving towards being a digitally empowered nation, with technology being the prime focus. As blockchain is one of the emerging technologies in the industry, various pilot exercises are being done in an Indian context in many states. The initial part of the chapter will focus on understanding the application of blockchain in government services to gain efficiency and increase transparency and accountability in their functioning, and its implementations in government services, like the development of government certificates, land registry, creating tamper-proof voting records, vehicle registries, etc. The next part of the chapter will focus on the global adoption of blockchain, since various countries are in the league of experimenting with this technology in the public sector. One effective case of blockchain adoption and implementation in the country of Estonia will be discussed in depth, as its adoption of blockchain technology can be seen as a successful programme plan for potential blockchain applications elsewhere. Lastly, the chapter explores institutional initiatives like the Centre of Excellence (CoE) for blockchain technology, set up by Karnataka to promote blockchain and its application; regulatory approaches like the draft national strategy on blockchain, which was submitted recently by the National Institute for Smart Governance (NISG) to provide a set of policy frameworks to proactively facilitate the integration of blockchain with existing economic ecosystems; and a blockchain strategy paper by the government of India’s policy think tank NITI Aayog.
Nada Alasbali, Saaidal Razalli Azzuhri, Rosli Salleh, Miss Laiha Mat Kiah · 7 authors
Motivation. Standardization in smart city applications is restricted by the competitive pressures of proprietary innovation and technological compartmentalization. Interoperability across networks, databases, and APIs is essential to achieving the smart objectives of technology-supported urban environments. Methodology. The issues that smart cities face, as well as the usage of blockchain in Internet of Things (IoT) applications, are discussed in this research paper. Problem Statement. The study shows the obstacles to the establishment of an IoT-driven smart city agenda, including system security, dispersed node interoperability, data resource management, and scalability of a diverse IoT network. Results. To resolve these challenges, this research proposes a working infinite loop model for establishing a standardized, intermediary cloud-based blockchain for IoT networking within smart cities. The blockchain intermediary function will resolve critical gaps in the existing, distributed IoT-based smart cities’ standards, drawing connections between nodes, users, and service providers that are enabled through autonomous, immutable, and nonrepudiated transactions.
Government corruption in Latin America prevents the region’s sustainable development and constitutes a failure of current systems. Governments have started to leverage new technologies to increase transparency and promote integrity within their processes. Among these, blockchain technology has gained traction as a promising tool for Smart Governance due to its unique properties in terms of immutability, trust, coordination, security, and transparency. The use of blockchain within Smart City initiatives is complicated by a lack of diffusion models. This paper develops a diffusion model for blockchain technology after analyzing three case studies and conducting a survey of thirty blockchain start-up leads across Latin America. The final model, named Smart Governance BT diffusion model, conceptualizes the diffusion of blockchain as a gradual process including inputs, a dynamic throughput, and outputs. Relevant for academics and government representatives alike, the model aims at improving the conceptual understanding of technology diffusion in Smart Cities and highlights the potential of blockchain as a mitigator of vulnerabilities to corruption. As initial conditions matter for its successful adoption and diffusion, it is recommended for Latin American governments to (1) redesign and digitalize their processes and legislation, (2) conduct a thorough cost-benefit analysis for specific use cases, and (3) reduce inefficiencies in areas with relatively medium to low levels of historical corruption in a first instance. The model can be tested and refined in future research and can be applied to any Smart City initiative requiring conceptualization.