Integration of new age technology with smart cities initiatives and its role in the achievement of sustainable development goals

Abstract

The United Nations General Assembly set up 17 goals to achieve environmental, socioeconomic, and industrial infrastructure challenges, practically framed within 169 targets and 232 indicators. In this view, the Smart Cities initiative is assumed to be a hotspot for achieving the United Nations goals by 2030, aligned with Sustainable Development Goals 8, 9, and 11. This study explores the role of Smart Cities initiatives in achieving Sustainable Development Goals 8, 9, and 11. A structured literature review was utilized to perform a content analysis of existing studies, practically focusing on identifying and understanding the capabilities of Smart Cities initiatives in achieving Sustainable Development Goals 8, 9, and 11. The findings covered the environmental, socioeconomic, and infrastructure-based factors of the Smart Cities framework as supported by the achievement of the aforementioned Sustainable Development Goals. The synergies between technological innovation, urban development, and sustainability of Smart Cities provide strategic guidelines for policymakers, social and industrial entrepreneurs, and managers, and inform future research directions for academic researchers.