Smart Cities, Volume 5, Issue 4 (December 2022) – 30 articles

Due to tremendous technological breakthroughs, an increasing number of cities are transforming into “smart cities” utilizing the Internet of Things (IOT), artificial intelligence, or other information technologies. The Chinese government announced that the development of “digital cities smart cities” was a national priority. The goal of this study is to examine the success variables that can influence IOT service adoption aspirations while also serving as a mediator for enhanced security via blockchain technologies. A conceptual model is created with a strong theoretical underpinning and body of literature. The final sample consisted of 1008 participants. This study uses the partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM model) to test and analyze the impact of identified variables on the continuous usage intention (CUI) of IOT-based public services. Our findings show that blockchain adoption in smart cities fully mediates the effect of the IOT on CUI and shed the light on the importance of the trust, empowerment, and social influence since the continuous usage intention of the IOT in smart cities is mainly influenced by these factors and enhanced by the application of blockchain. Full article

Today, policymakers struggle to obtain information from specific smart city case studies. The literature lacks a unified view of current initiatives. This paper performs an empirical study with the aim of collecting evidence from the literature about existing smart city initiatives in the European Union (EU). The contribution of each paper and its geography are analyzed using content analysis to identify the number and type of initiatives in each country. A cluster analysis is performed to find relationships between countries and their development phase as well as the categories (areas) they are focused on. The results suggest that there are different levels of smart city development between the member states despite the initial year of their first result in the literature. Furthermore, 22 smart city categories clustered in four different groups were found. When compared to countries’ socio-economic characteristics, the results suggest the development of smart cities is significantly related to the public budget balance, gross domestic product and EU structural funds. In summary, this paper portrays the state-of-the-art of smart city initiatives in the member states of the European Union. Moreover, it represents a valuable contribution to decision makers to discuss ways to standardize smart city approaches in the European scope. Furthermore, the method used in this paper can inspire the development of collaborative dashboards for the exchange of best practices and data accessibility about case studies’ details. Full article

The world’s population is getting older these days. Frailty, a gerontologic health condition associated with ageing, has serious consequences. One crucial remedy for the elderly population is the development of ageing-in-place infrastructures. To better understand the market requirements for ageing housing units, the causes of downsizing and the governmental measures to ameliorate the situation, face-to-face in-depth individual and focus group interviews were conducted in this study. Elderly residents of two significant ageing-in-place institutions in Hong Kong, along with their caregivers, were interviewed. The method of methodological triangulation was used to combine interviews, records, and communication tools to increase the reliability and trustworthiness of the findings. The provision of facilities for the elderly has successfully established a pathway for creating and making housing spaces available to families who need larger homes, while the elderly typically downsize from larger homes and relieve their financial needs. It is also found that a digital divide exists; some respondents suggested that they do not know about computers and do not use smart facilities in their homes. Full article

The concept of a ‘smart city’ is now commonly used to describe the use of various digital and other technologies, to collect data to provide information that can be used to manage resources efficiently and provide a better standard of living for the citizens. Small and rural municipalities in developing countries face growing challenges in managing their resources, to provide basic services such as housing, education, transport, health, water and electricity to the citizens. This research is aimed at identifying key factors that could assist small and rural municipalities to assess their readiness for smart city implementation. A systematic literature review methodology was employed to provide an exhaustive summary of substantiated research relevant to the research aim and to synthesize key factors that are crucial to assess small and rural municipalities’ readiness. This study was conducted between January and July 2022. As a contribution, this study identified and synthesized key factors to be addressed when determining a municipality’s readiness to become a smart city. Through the use of ATLAS.ti to analyze the data, the study identifies the following key factors: infrastructure, the environment, skills, innovation, technology, the economy, citizens, culture, finance, the public sector, private organizations, data, management, policies, internet connectivity, education and energy. Advancing these key elements should also help small and rural municipalities, who are not yet ready to actuate a smart city, to prepare for such an endeavor, in order to address service delivery issues, the economy and the quality of life of their citizens. Full article

With the increasing number of people living in cities, the demand for energy in office buildings and homes is constantly increasing; thus, smart buildings were created to provide users with better comfort conditions. However, using artificial systems becomes an unsustainable alternative for these environments. This research conducted a literature review of studies published in Scopus and Web of Science between 1970 and 2022 to identify studies that contained strategies to promote thermal comfort and energy efficiency in buildings, as well as the main challenges and barriers to sustainability. A total of 9195 articles related to the topic were identified, and after applying the defined criteria, 105 were included in this review. Three research questions were investigated, and the main findings of this research are: (i) it is more difficult to assess thermal comfort and thermal sensation than energy efficiency; (ii) to promote a thermally comfortable environment, it is necessary to consider numerous aspects to reduce environmental impacts and energy consumption and to increase sustainability; (iii) actual thermal conditions are influenced by factors such as energy levels, climate, setpoint types, building type, size and orientation, and economic factors, among others; (iv) new technologies found in smart buildings showed distinct performances according to the climates of each region, and their evaluations can cover thermal comfort, energy savings, and payback time. Full article

Here, we examine the extension of smart retailing from the indoor confines of stores, outward to high streets. We explore how several technologies at the union of retail intelligence and smart city monitoring could coalesce into retail high streets that are both smart and sentient. We examine the new vantages that smart and sentient retail high streets provide on the customer journey, and how they could transform retailers’ sway over customer experience with new reach to the public spaces around shops. In doing so, we pursue a three-way consideration of these issues, examining the technology that underpins smart retailing, new advances in artificial intelligence and machine learning that beget a level of street-side sentience, and opportunities for retailers to map the knowledge that those technologies provide to individual customer journeys in outdoor settings. Our exploration of these issues takes form as a review of the literature and the introduction of our own research to prototype smart and sentient retail systems for high streets. The topic of enhancing retailers’ acuity on high streets has significant currency, as many high street stores have recently been struggling to sustain custom. However, the production and application of smart and sentient technologies at hyper-local resolution of the streetscape conjures some sobering considerations about shoppers’ and pedestrians’ rights to privacy in public. Full article

In the present paper, we derive and solve the space-fractional traffic flow model which is considered as a generalization of the transport density equation. Based on the fundamental physical principles on finite-length highway where the number of vehicles is conserved, without entrances or exits, we construct a fractional continuity equation. As a limitation of the classical calculus, the continuity equation is constructed based on truncating after the first order of Taylor expansion, which means that the change in the number of vehicles is linear over the finite-length highway. However, in fractional calculus, we prove that nonlinear flow is a result of truncating the fractional Taylor polynomial after the second term with zero error. Therefore, the new fractional traffic flow model is free from being linear, and the space now is described by the fractional powers of coordinates, provided with a single variable measure. Further, some exact solutions of the fractional model are generated by the method of characteristics. Remarkably, these solutions have significant physical implications to help to make the proper decisions for constructing traffic signals in a smart city. Full article

Efficient municipal waste management is one of the key aspects of smart cities. In the literature, modern technological solutions are mainly analyzed in this context on the example of specific case studies. However, the author of this article attempts a more fundamental, holistic and comparative assessment of waste management in cities, recognized as smart and aspiring to this title. The objective of this attempt is to answer the following question: What results do the designated cities achieve in terms of waste volume reduction, waste segregation and collection costs? The research was carried out on 16 Polish provincial cities used as examples, including two (Warsaw and Wrocław) classified as smart cities in ranking of the Cities in Motion Index 2020. The analysis period covers 2019–2021, and during the research, in addition to the parameters listed above, a multi-criteria analysis was used to allow a collective assessment of the effectiveness of municipal management in the surveyed cities. The results obtained allow the conclusion that the volume of waste per capita in most of the analyzed cities is steadily increasing. The cost of waste management is also growing significantly. These unfavorable phenomena are particularly acute for smart cities, which in the holistic assessment were ranked among the three least effective units in terms of waste management (Lublin, Warsaw, Wrocław). Full article

The energy crisis is the foremost concern for the developing world, predominantly in European countries. The global energy demand will increase significantly by 2050, while natural resources dramatically decrease every day. However, net-zero emissions targets, climate emergency calls (1.5 °C global warming limit), smart environmental transformations, and energy transition efforts bring hope for fundamental changes in climate action globally. One of the best and most cost-effective strategies to achieve reduced energy consumption is encouraging energy conservation actions, which should begin at the household level and further spread to the community level. Therefore, this study aims to point out the critical role and growing importance of the ‘human’ dimension of smart cities via a behavior-based approach. The main purpose of the study is to measure the effect of feedback and intervention mechanisms on the energy conservation behavior of 100 volunteers who live in Kadikoy, Istanbul, over eight months through a behavioral questionnaire. The findings indicate that the feedback and intervention mechanisms affect volunteers’ energy conservation behaviors in the following behavioral groups: intention (t(99) = −2.75, p = 0.00), attitude (behavioral beliefs and outcome evaluations) (t(99) = 2.29, p = 0.02), subjective norms (t(99) = −4.07, p = 0.00), and perceived behavioral control (control beliefs and influence behavior) (t(99) = 3.60, p = 0.00). Moreover, among the four variable groups, participants’ intention, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control scores are relatively high in favor of actual energy conservation behavior. Hence, the findings of the study will provide valuable insights for the local government in terms of empowering citizen participation and data-driven feedback loops, from the bottom-up energy transition perspective, via smart technologies in smart cities. Full article

This work develops the analysis of power quality by the H-bridge Static Distribution Compensator (DSTATCOM) as well as its control techniques in different industry-based loading conditions. The function of DSTATCOM is to diminish power quality problems arising due to commercial as well as industrial loads. For reference current extraction, the novel Icosθ and proposed enhanced SRF SOGI-FLL (synchronous reference frame second-order generalized integrator frequency-locked loop) controller have been adopted in the H-bridge DSTATCOM. The Icosθ controller’s performance is dependent on the in-phase and quadrature-phase angle, which changes accordingly as load changes, whereas the proposed enhanced SRF SOGI-FLL controller works in synchronization with the grid with an inverter. The two control techniques were compared in terms of balancing, power factor improvement, DC-link voltage control, and harmonic minimization. The harmonics minimization of the proposed controller has been validated by IEEE 519 standards. The extracted reference currents are fed to the hysteresis current controller for the generation of pulses toward the inverter switches of DSTATCOM. The DSTATCOM system along with control algorithms have been tested on various loading conditions, i.e., voltage source- and current source-based non-linear loads, induction heating-based loads, and electric arc furnace. The complete DSTATCOM systems were implemented and executed in the MATLAB/Simulink platform and then power quality improvement features were investigated. Full article

Over the last few years, several works have been conducted on the design and development of wireless acoustic sensor networks (WASNs) to monitor acoustic noise levels and create noise maps. The information provided by these WASNs is based on the equivalent noise pressure level over time T (L_eq,T), which is used to assess the objective noise level. According to some authors, noise annoyance is an inherently vague and uncertain concept, and L_eq,T does not provide any information about subjective annoyance to humans. Some fuzzy models have been proposed to model subjective annoyance. However, the use of fuzzy rule-based systems (FRBS) that have been adapted to acoustic sensor node resource limitations in real WASN to provide the degree of subjective noise annoyance in real-time remains a largely unexplored region. In this paper, we present the design and implementation of an FRBS that enables the sensor nodes of a real WASN deployed in the city of Linares (Jaen), Spain to infer the degree of subjective noise annoyance in real-time. The hardware used for the sensor nodes is a commercial model, Arduino Due. The results demonstrate that the sensor nodes have sufficient processing capacity and memory to infer the subjective annoyance in real-time, and the system can correctly detect situations that can be considered more annoying by humans. Full article

Information and communication technologies (ICT), systems, and people are driving innovative approaches and actions to address issues such as urbanization, demographic change, and carbon footprints of cities. Current research on smart city technologies is typically focused on the areas of technology and applications. As a result, a holistic strategic framework is lacking, as partner organizations often fail to adopt and comply with the necessary interoperability standards, which can undermine the effective and rapid roll-out and transformation of smart city project strategies. This study aims to develop an ICT framework on the determinants of smart city adoption that is developed to help society and policymakers achieve the goals pursued under the smart city initiative, such as maximizing synergies between different ICT infrastructure activities and avoiding large-scale investments without increasing their potential or focusing on short-term solutions without considering long-term needs. Based on data from the literature review and expert interviews, combined with a case study of the United Arab Emirates, this paper identifies the relevant determinants, which are conceptually grouped into seven basic dimensions. For each of these dimensions, relevant sub-dimensions are specified. The framework was developed and validated through three methods: interviews with experts, a desktop study of 62 smart cities, and finally a case study of the Salik system in Dubai based on the concept of the framework. By identifying key adoption determinants, the framework provides a useful analytical perspective for policymakers and researchers involved in the strategic feasibility roll-out and transformation of smart cities. Full article

A smart parking system (SPS) is an integral part of smart cities where Internet of Things (IoT) technology provides many innovative urban digital solutions. It offers hassle-free parking convenience to the city dwellers, metering facilities, and a revenue source for businesses, and it also protects the environment by cutting down drive-around emissions. The real-time availability information of parking slots and the duration of occupancy are valuable data utilized by multiple sectors such as parking management, charging electric vehicles (EV), car servicing, urban infrastructure planning, traffic regulation, etc. IPv6 wireless mesh networks are a good choice to implement a fail-safe, low-power and Internet protocol (IP)-based secure communication infrastructure for connecting heterogeneous IoT devices. In a smart parking lot, there could be a variety of local IoT devices that consume the occupancy data generated from the parking sensors. For instance, there could be a central parking management system, ticketing booths, display boards showing a count of free slots and color-coded lights indicating visual clues for vacancy. Apart from this, there are remote user applications that access occupancy data from browsers and mobile phones over the Internet. Both the types of data consumers need not collect their inputs from the cloud, as it is beneficial to offer local data within the network. Hence, an SPS with multiple data consumers needs an efficient communication model that provides reliable data transfers among producers and consumers while minimizing the overall energy consumption and data transit time. This paper explores different SPS communication models by varying the number of occupancy data collators, their positions, hybrid power cycles and data aggregation strategies. In addition, it proposes a concise data format for effective data dissemination. Based on the simulation studies, a multi-collator model along with a data superimposition technique is found to be the best for realizing an efficient smart parking system. Full article

Smart city technology is only considered in some cities depending on the resident requirements, whereas smart initiatives are adopted easily in others. One of the first critical steps toward understanding these aspects of Malaysian smart cities is to empirically study the citizens’ and government agencies’ aspirations to use smart city services. A Malaysia Smart Cities Stakeholders Adoption Model (MSCSA) as a case study based on the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT2) is being developed and evaluated in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. An in-depth interview with expert staff from the Plan Malaysia smart city department and Telekom Malaysia Berhad (TM one) was conducted using a mixed-methods approach. To determine the influence of seven parameters on behavioural intentions, specifically the choice to build a smart city, quantitative data were collected as questionnaires. These parameters were self-efficacy, expected effort, perceived security, perceived privacy, price value, trust in government, and trust in technology. Citizens’ intentions to use smart city services were significantly influenced by each of these characteristics. There is a definite association between perceived privacy and perceived security as a core aspect of trust in technology, as well as price value, a core aspect of trust in government. When the trust in both these is strong, stakeholders are more willing to adopt and pursue smart city services. These studies provide city officials with a technique for measuring citizen desire for smart city services, as well as outlining the components necessary for establishing a good smart city strategy that is successful. Full article

The search for a pleasant home has concerned people ever since. Paradoxically, people are facing strong difficulties in finding a decent place to settle their lives in cities. As such, the housing market regained momentum in connection with the development of Smart Cities, where life quality of residents is strongly emphasized. Well-being in the metropolis is affected by a wide variety of factors with housing supply being among the most important, hence stirred by financing costs, construction costs, vacancy rate, sales delay, inflation rate, housing stock, price of agricultural land, and regulation. The present article reviews empirical studies on housing supply for a better understanding of the dynamics in this market, shedding some light on the expectable outcomes of policy actions in the promotion of sustainable housing towards the smart city transition. Our review shows that the long-run price elasticity of housing supply is larger than the short-run, as well as the existence of substantial differences in the price elasticity across countries and regions. As such, overall, the hypothesis of a perfectly elastic supply is rejected. In addition, our review highlights that housing supply is negatively related to financial costs, inflation, sales delay, and the existence of regulatory or physical constraints. Also, the elasticity is lower when there are regulatory constraints. Newfangled strategic interaction models, though overlooked in the literature, reinforce that housing does not fit the perfect competition frame. The review proves that we are in face of a non-competitive market in which policy intervention is required to maximize social welfare; policy packages to grant people access to the housing market may be required. However, policy interventions should be carefully designed and clear, to mitigate their potentially negative impact on the housing supply as adverse results may be harmful to the transition towards a smart city. Full article

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) is suffering major delays in construction projects. Because the construction business in Saudi Arabia has changed dramatically over the last three decades, it is crucial to conduct a thorough study into the reasons for delays and to get industry experts on the same page. In this paper, an overview of the construction sector generally and the Saudi Arabian construction industry has been presented. Based on the literature review the major causes, as well as effects of the delays caused in the construction industry, have been identified. Some of the common causes identified are incorrect planning, administration problems, difficulties in financing, lack of experienced staff, and poor communication. It is advised that the major actors in the construction sector employ the proper tactics to implement preventative measures to lessen the consequences when carrying out construction projects. Full article

In recent years, dam construction has become more complex, requiring an effective project management method. Building Information Modeling (BIM) affects how construction projects are planned, designed, executed, and operated. Therefore, reducing execution time, cost, and risk and increasing quality are the primary goals of organizations. In this paper, first, the time and cost of the project were obtained via the BIM process. Subsequently, optimization between the components of the survival pyramid (time, cost, quality, and risk) in construction projects was completed in a case study of the Ghocham storage dam in five different modes, including contractor’s offers, BIM, actual, and two other modes based on the expert’s opinions. For this aim, five different meta-heuristic optimization algorithms were utilized, including two classical algorithms (Genetic and Simulated Annealing) and three novel algorithms (Black Widow Optimization, Battle Royale Optimization, and Black Hole Mechanics Optimization). In four cases, once each element of the survival pyramid was optimized separately, all four cases were traded off simultaneously. Moreover, the results were obtained from all the mentioned algorithms in five scenarios based on the number of function evaluation (N_fe), Standard Deviation (SD), Computation Time (CT), and Best Cost (BC). MATLAB software completed the coding related to the objective functions and optimization algorithms. The results indicated the appropriate performance of GA and BHMO algorithms in some scenarios. However, only the GAs should be considered effective algorithms in a dam construction projects’ time–cost–quality–risk (TCQR) tradeoff. Full article

The building sector is responsible for a significant amount of energy consumption and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Thus, the monitoring, control and optimization of energy consumption in buildings will play a critical role in the coming years in improving energy efficiency in the building sector and in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. However, while there are a significant number of studies on how to make buildings smarter and manage energy through smart devices, there is a need for more research on integrating buildings with legacy equipment and systems. It is therefore vital to define mechanisms to improve the use of energy efficiency in existing buildings. This study proposes a new architecture (PHOENIX architecture) for integrating legacy building systems into scalable energy management systems with focus also on user comfort in the concept of interoperability layers. This interoperable and intelligent architecture relies on Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning (AI/ML) and Internet of Things (IoT) technologies to increase building efficiency, grid flexibility and occupant well-being. To validate the architecture and demonstrate the impact and replication potential of the proposed solution, five demonstration pilots have been utilized across Europe. As a result, by implementing the proposed architecture in the pilot sites, 30 apartments and four commercial buildings with more than 400 devices have been integrated into the architecture and have been communicating successfully. In addition, six Trials were performed in a commercial building and five key performance indicators (KPIs) were measured in order to evaluate the robust operation of the architecture. Work is still ongoing for the trials and the KPIs’ analysis after the implementation of PHOENIX architecture at the rest of the pilot sites. Full article

Developing smart cities as a practical component of sustainability is an initiative being promoted worldwide at the international level. The European Union has a strong focus on creating awareness regarding the necessity of new consumption models in energy, considering the current energy crisis and increasing inflation. The aim of the present paper is to assess the paradigm shift from consumers to prosumers in smart cities of the European Union in the international context of promoting sustainability and finding solutions to the current energy crisis. New solutions have to be found and implemented in order to ensure citizens in the European Union have better living conditions under these given circumstances. Developing smart cities in the countries of the European Union is a response to this international context and a solution for better life quality for citizens. Smart cities are not just high-tech cities, but are sustainable cities putting the consumer first. Consumer living in smart cities has new functions in this sustainable environment: they will develop from consumer to prosumer. This paradigm shift brings new consumption models to be implemented in smart cities, centered on the prosumer. The proactive role of the prosumer will change their mindset. This is the research hypothesis of the present paper: smart cities will help consumers to become prosumers and a new mindset will be created for citizens living in smart cities. This development will have a social impact beyond academia and will shape society in a new way. Qualitative comparative analysis is used as a research method in the present article. A case study is presented to support the research hypothesis. The novelty and originality of the present research is the citizen-oriented approach of developing smart cities, considering the perception and the new roles or functions of the citizen living in a smart city regarding these new sustainable cities. Smart cities are analyzed as social hubs offering improved life quality and a sustainable life perspective, beyond the technical or technological components which are usually debated related to smart cities. The resumption theory explains the paradigm shift from consumer to prosumer and the related development of a new mindset for citizens of smart cities in the European Union. Economic, environmental and social incentives trigger a change of mindset from consumers to prosumers in EU smart cities, which is validated in the present paper. Full article

Smart cities are an innovative concept for managing metropolitan areas to increase their residents’ sustainability and quality of life. This article examines the management and evolution of energy generation, various storage systems and the applications they serve, and infrastructure technology’s current condition and future prospects. Additionally, the study also examines energy-related construction and transportation systems and technologies. The Smart Cities Energy Prediction Task Force predicts electrical usage using STLF, SVM, and e-learning machines. To keep a system working well throughout the year, fossil fuels must be utilised as a backup energy source. Technologies can only benefit if integrated into the city’s infrastructure. By 2050, it is anticipated that the global population will surpass 10 billion, with most people settling in metropolitan regions. Between 2020 and 2027, the global market for smart energy is anticipated to expand by 27.1% annually, from USD 122.2 billion in 2020 to USD 652 billion in 2026. In 2020, Europe will account for 31.8 per cent of total smart energy product sales. China’s GDP is projected to grow by 33.0 per cent annually, reaching USD 176.1 billion by the conclusion of the analysis period. Consequently, smart cities are expanding and blooming worldwide, yet there are no permanent standards. Full article

The emergence of smart cities has illuminated positive expectations, such as the solving of urban problems through information and communications technology (ICT). Behind the spotlight of the smart city, not everybody is enjoying the smart infrastructure owing to knowledge gaps such as the digital divide. Living labs provide a new platform for smart cities that can prevent the failure of urban development. They give citizens a better understanding of how to adapt to life in a smart city, enabling the development of smart cities that are more likely to succeed through a participatory approach. In this way, the competencies of participants may affect the success of a living lab. Nevertheless, there is a lack of research on improving participants’ knowledge through living labs. This study aims to examine how participation in an urban living lab influences the knowledge level of photovoltaic power generation and to identify the influencing factors. Our empirical study shows that the knowledge level of solar power technology improved through participation in a living lab. Additionally, the results indicate that the types of activity programs in the living lab were not associated with knowledge acquisition. Full article

The 15-minute-city concept represents an increasingly popular urban policymaking and planning paradigm that seeks to shift attention to the neighborhood as a “place” rather merely a spatial and functional planning unit. The core premise of the concept is that critical urban services and amenities should be reachable within 15 min of walking or cycling from a residence. The urban-planning principles that enable the realization of the 15-minute city variably embody planning in mixed-use neighborhood units, proximity-based planning, planning for active transport, citizen participation in planning, and innovation and intelligence-driven planning. We revisit these urban-planning premises in the light of emerging social, physical, and structural developments through 2030, with a focus on European cases. The findings provide important additions and recommendations to the urban-planning principles of 15-minute cities along the themes of proximity-based planning, the use of land and urban form, urban governance and citizen participation, and inclusive digitalization. The paper moves the discussion on the 15-minute city forward and will be helpful for urban planners, policymakers, and scholars seeking to envision and create a more sustainable, inclusive, and vibrant future in cities. Full article

The rapidly evolving urbanization is generating unprecedented travel demand, notably in intercity travel. With increasing challenges in motorized traffic, innovative and sustainable transport modes are more than ever necessary. The Hyperloop system is an emerging transportation mode with the potential to change long–distance commutes, especially between cities. There is a need for, but also gap in, understanding this potentially emerging transport mode. This study aims at filling this gap by deploying a stated preference study in Germany, in which data was collected for 786 respondents with 5640 scenarios, to investigate the factors impacting users’ preferences towards Hyperloop systems. Models were developed to examine factors impacting the immediate Hyperloop adoption (in the first year of its implementation), but also the choice between Hyperloop and other long–distance travel modes, such as airplanes and high-speed trains. Results indicate that mode-related characteristics (travel time, travel cost, safety), individual characteristics (gender, income level, availability of a driving license, access to a car, familiarity with the Hyperloop system), the current satisfaction level with high-speed trains and airplanes, and personality traits (confidence, affinity to technology) are the most significant factors in the choice and early adoption of Hyperloop systems. Full article

The concept of “water smart city” is increasingly being recognized as a new approach to managing urban environments (including urban floods), especially in the context of developing countries, such as Indonesia. While Indonesia’s national capital relocation plan is expected to attract significant human migration to two nearby cities, Samarinda City and the port city of Balikpapan, these cities have continuously faced with severe risk of flooding. Therefore, this research proposes a flood management approach by reviewing the local city government’s flood risk management strategies and the smart city plan to enhance flood resilience. The integration of the SETS (Social–Ecological–Technological systems) framework and the Flood Resilience Cycle is undertaken to determine the state of flood management, which is followed by a review of smart city plans and programs in two selected cities (Samarinda and Balikpapan). The research mainly identifies how it can be implemented in the two selected cities based on SETS–FRC distribution. In accordance with the SETS–FRC (Flood Resilience Cycle) framework, it is revealed that both these cities have a higher emphasis on the flood prevention phase, as compared to other resilience phases. Based on the overall results, this study emphasizes the implementation of a water smart city concept for effective and smart flood risk management. Full article

Traffic is one of the indispensable problems of modern societies, which leads to undesirable consequences such as time wasting and greater possibility of accidents. Adaptive Traffic Signal Control (ATSC), as a key part of Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS), plays a key role in reducing traffic congestion by real-time adaptation to dynamic traffic conditions. Moreover, these systems are integrated with Internet of Things (IoT) devices. IoT can lead to easy implementation of traffic management systems. Recently, the combination of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the IoT has attracted the attention of many researchers and can process large amounts of data that are suitable for solving complex real-world problems about traffic control. In this paper, we worked on the real-world scenario of Shiraz City, which currently does not use any intelligent method and works based on fixed-time traffic signal scheduling. We applied IoT approaches and AI techniques to control traffic lights more efficiently, which is an essential part of the ITS. Specifically, sensors such as surveillance cameras were used to capture real-time traffic information for the intelligent traffic signal control system. In fact, an intelligent traffic signal control system is provided by utilizing distributed Multi-Agent Reinforcement Learning (MARL) and applying the traffic data of adjacent intersections along with local information. By using MARL, our goal was to improve the overall traffic of six signalized junctions of Shiraz City in Iran. We conducted numerical simulations for two synthetic intersections by simulated data and for a real-world map of Shiraz City with real-world traffic data received from the transportation and municipality traffic organization and compared it with the traditional system running in Shiraz. The simulation results show that our proposed approach performs more efficiently than the fixed-time traffic signal control scheduling implemented in Shiraz in terms of average vehicle queue lengths and waiting times at intersections. Full article

Population aging is a global problem affecting many modern economies. Thus, the article attempts to answer the following research questions: What demographic trends characterize cities considered smart, and is the health care offered by these cities adapted to the changes identified in this regard? In other words, can seniors feel safe now and in the near future? In search of an answer to such a question, data as well as demographic and health indicators were used from 16 Polish voivodeship cities mostly considered smart or aspiring to that title. The analysis covered the years 2010–2020. The results indicate a systematic aging of all surveyed urban communities. However, it is progressing at a rather different pace. Unfortunately, not all cities are adjusting the level of health care (medical and nursing staff and hospital infrastructure) to the needs of the growing number of seniors, which—in the future—may exacerbate regional and local medical and social problems. The analysis also shows that the best-performing cities in terms of health care development are Warsaw, Białystok, Kraków and Rzeszów—the units most often identified in international rankings as smart. Their “smartness” in this case lies in forward-looking management that takes into account the aging of the urban community in the process of developing medical care. Full article

Cruising-for-parking in an urban area is a time-consuming and frustrating activity. We present four machine learning-based models to predict the parking availability of street segments in an urban area on a three-level scale, which navigator and smart-parking apps can exploit to ease and reduce the cruising phase. The models were trained with data generated by a cruising-for-parking simulator that we developed, replicating four parking behavior types (workers, residents, buyers, and visitors). The generated data is comparable to that collectible with smartphones’ sensors. We simulated 40 users moving for 200 weeks in the city area of San Giovanni in Rome. We collected information about users’ parking, unparking, and cruising actions over considered road segments at different time slots. Once a significant amount of trips were collected, we extracted ten features for each road segment at a given time slot. With the obtained dataset, which contained 761 samples, we trained and compared four supervised machine learning models that receive the history of a segment and, in return, classify the Parking Availability Level of the segment as Green, Yellow or Red. The four models were further evaluated in a different city area, San Lorenzo, and obtained very accurate results. We can predict parking availability with an accuracy above 97% for all the street segments where we collected 30 or more user actions, confirming the robustness of the simulator in generating synthetic cruising-for-parking data and the suitability of designing a Parking Availability Classifier (PAC) based on data collectible by smartphones. Full article

In rural regions, needs-based mobility services play an important role in the provision of public services. Shared Mobility Services can optimally complement local public transportation such as buses and trains, even in rural regions, and support the transformation of transportation. There is already research on Shared Mobility Services in the literature, but there is no comparison between all of Germany-wide and a specific municipality. We were interested in learning to what extent there is acceptance among citizens and what their usage behavior is towards such new alternatives. We also aimed to find out whether there are differences between large cities and rural regions and to what extent they differ from each other. In this case study, interplay was demonstrated using the example of a funded Smart City mobility project in a German rural municipality. The objective was to show whether the potential exists to initiate traffic turnaround with the help of Shared Mobility Services. In a quantitative survey of 418 German citizens, 114 of them from the rural municipality, the acceptance and usage behavior of Shared Mobility Services (in the form of car, bike and e-scooter sharing) was investigated. The results show that participants are very interested in Shared Mobility Services and have already gained initial experience with such services. However, there is still a lack of comprehensive services; for instance, the demand for car sharing is still too low, as many citizens still own a private vehicle. Our results show that citizens are too little informed about Shared Mobility Services and that these services need to be advertised much more strongly and clearly, both in analog and digitally. Our study shows that traffic turnaround can be achieved and that many citizens can imagine greater use of Shared Mobility Services in their everyday lives in the future. However, for this to happen, the necessary infrastructure must be in place in rural regions, and local authorities must motivate citizens with sufficient educational work about what is on offer and how to use it. Full article

This study analyzes the development of renewable energy sources and factors affecting the choice of energy source. Also, we focus on the renewable energy programs implemented in the smart cities of the world and apply the prospects of its development to a Russian case study, using the method of cluster analysis. The results of the study showed that the share of renewable energy in Russian cities might reach 50% by 2050. However, the analysis demonstrates that currently, the average value is less than 26%. The results of the study show that the overall level of development of renewable sources in a particular country significantly affects the level of development of renewable energy in smart cities. Finally, the results reveal that Russian smart cities should aim at a much more intensive green energy policy to implement the fundamental principles of the global strategy of Net Zero (IEA). Full article