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Urban Science
Special Issues
Smart Cities—Urban Planning, Technology and Future Infrastructures
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Smart Cities—Urban Planning, Technology and Future Infrastructures

A special issue of Urban Science (ISSN 2413-8851). This special issue belongs to the section "Intelligent Cities and Technology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 March 2027 | Viewed by 3181

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Luis Hernández-Callejo

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Agricultural and Forestry Engineering, University of Valladolid, Campus Duques de Soria, 42004 Soria, Spain
Interests: renewable energies; smart cities; photovoltaics; artificial intelligence
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Prof. Dr. Sergio Nesmachnow

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Instituto de Computación, Facultad de Ingeniería, Universidad de la República, Montevideo, Uruguay
Interests: smart cities; scientific computing; sustainability; computational Intelligence
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Cities are rapidly transforming into complex socio-technical systems shaped by digital innovation, new mobility paradigms, data-driven governance, and evolving models of urban development. As the global population becomes increasingly urban, the need for more intelligent, resilient, and sustainable cities is urgent. This Special Issue aims to bring together cutting-edge research that explores how Smart Cities can be designed, managed, and continuously improved through the integration of urban planning, advanced technologies, and next-generation infrastructures. We welcome high-quality original papers, reviews, and case studies addressing theoretical, methodological, and practical aspects of these intertwined domains.

The transformation toward Smart Cities requires rethinking traditional urban planning paradigms. Urban planning now operates at the intersection of spatial design, environmental sustainability, mobility optimization, and socio-economic development. We encourage contributions that explore how planning tools, design strategies, land-use models, and governance frameworks evolve in digitally augmented environments. Relevant topics include smart land-use planning approaches, mixed-use and compact city models, spatial equity supported by digital analytics, and the integration of nature-based solutions into urban form. Papers addressing participatory planning, community engagement through digital platforms, urban regeneration strategies, and planning for climate resilience are also welcome. This thematic pillar invites interdisciplinary work showing how planning can maintain human-centered design while leveraging digital intelligence.

Digital transformation is the backbone of Smart Cities, enabling automation, monitoring, predictive analysis, and evidence-based decision-making. We seek contributions exploring how sensor networks, IoT platforms, AI algorithms, big data analytics, computer vision, and digital twins are reshaping the operation and governance of urban systems. This thematic area welcomes studies on real-time urban monitoring, smart mobility analytics, energy management systems, environmental sensing, and the use of artificial intelligence for predictive maintenance, risk assessment, and service optimization. Research on cybersecurity, ethical considerations, data privacy, and regulatory challenges arising from pervasive data flows in urban environments is also encouraged. We are particularly interested in work demonstrating how digital technologies can enhance transparency, improve service delivery, and support sustainable development.

Infrastructures form the physical foundation of Smart Cities, and their modernization is essential for achieving resilience, efficiency, and long-term sustainability. We invite studies examining the evolution of energy systems, transportation networks, water and waste infrastructures, communication backbones, and public service facilities in the context of digital transformation. Topics include intelligent transportation systems (ITS), smart grids, renewable energy integration, micro-mobility networks, electric vehicle ecosystems, and green infrastructure. Contributions that analyze infrastructure resilience, circular-economy approaches, climate-adaptive systems, and infrastructure–technology interoperability are particularly relevant. Submissions may also address future mobility paradigms—such as connected and autonomous vehicles, mobility-as-a-service (MaaS), and integrated multimodal systems—as well as infrastructure governance models that support efficient, inclusive, and sustainable urban futures.

The scope of this Special Issue therefore includes, but is not limited to, the following:

1. Urban Planning and Urbanism

  • Smart land-use planning
  • Compact city models and urban form
  • Public space design powered by digital tools
  • Urban regeneration and adaptive reuse

2.  Technology and Data Intelligence

  • IoT-based urban monitoring systems
  • Artificial intelligence for city management
  • Digital twins and urban simulation
  • Big data analytics for mobility, energy, and public services

3.  Infrastructure and Mobility

  • Intelligent transportation systems (ITS)
  • Sustainable and resilient infrastructures
  • Renewable energy integration in urban environments
  • Autonomous vehicles and connected mobility

4.  Governance and Citizen Participation

  • Smart governance frameworks
  • E-government and digital public services
  • Participatory planning tools
  • Privacy, ethics, and data governance

5.  Sustainability and Resilience

  • Climate-adaptive urban design
  • Nature-based solutions in Smart Cities
  • Energy-efficient buildings and districts
  • Circular economy applications in urban systems

Prof. Dr. Luis Hernández-Callejo
Prof. Dr. Sergio Nesmachnow
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Urban Science is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • urban planning and urbanism
  • technology and data intelligence
  • infrastructure and mobility
  • governance and citizen participation
  • sustainability and resilience

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Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.

Published Papers (4 papers)

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41 pages, 3813 KB  
Article
Advancing Sustainable Urban Development in Saudi Arabia: Assessing Smart-City Initiatives Through a Verification-Oriented Framework
by Manel Mrabet and Maha Sliti
Urban Sci. 2026, 10(5), 251; https://doi.org/10.3390/urbansci10050251 - 5 May 2026
Abstract
Rapid urbanization in Saudi Arabia puts increasing pressure on energy, water, mobility, and waste-management systems, strengthening the need for evidence-based smart-city policy under Vision 2030. Rather than offering a descriptive inventory of projects, this paper develops a verification-oriented framework for assessing smart-city initiatives [...] Read more.
Rapid urbanization in Saudi Arabia puts increasing pressure on energy, water, mobility, and waste-management systems, strengthening the need for evidence-based smart-city policy under Vision 2030. Rather than offering a descriptive inventory of projects, this paper develops a verification-oriented framework for assessing smart-city initiatives in the Kingdom. The framework is built on four principles: (i) distinguishing national contextual indicators from city-level evidence, (ii) separating stated ambitions from observed outcomes, (iii) applying an evidence-grading rubric that prioritizes publicly verifiable mechanisms and performance indicators over anecdotal or promotional claims, and (iv) introducing a readiness–impact matrix adapted to Saudi climatic, infrastructural, and institutional conditions. The framework is applied to major Saudi smart-city cases, including NEOM, KAEC, Riyadh, Jeddah, Makkah, and Madinah. The analysis shows that the strongest publicly documented evidence is concentrated in selected sectoral applications, particularly demand response and smart-building control in electricity systems, leak detection and pressure management in water networks, and intelligent traffic management in urban transport. These cases indicate plausible pathways for improving service efficiency and reducing resource waste; however, publicly verifiable city-level outcome data remain limited, fragmented, and uneven across cases. In response, the paper proposes a policy playbook centered on KPI transparency, interoperable data governance, cybersecurity safeguards, and public–private partnership templates to improve the measurability, comparability, and scalability of smart-city outcomes. By formalizing verification and cross-case assessment, the study contributes a reproducible methodological basis for evaluating smart-city progress and prioritizing future investments in Saudi Arabia. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Smart Cities—Urban Planning, Technology and Future Infrastructures)
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26 pages, 4075 KB  
Article
Assessing Urban Functionality Through the 15-Minutes City Lens: A GIS-Based Spatial Analysis Comparative Study of Two Central European Cities, Cluj–Napoca (Romania) and Pecs (Hungary)
by Ștefan Bilașco, Sorin Filip, Réka Horeczki, Sanda Roșca, Szilárd Rácz, Irina Raboșapca, Iuliu Vescan and Ioan Fodorean
Urban Sci. 2026, 10(4), 180; https://doi.org/10.3390/urbansci10040180 - 26 Mar 2026
Viewed by 1286
Abstract
The concept of the 15 minutes city is increasingly present in the structure of spatial planning for large urban centers, with the main goal of improving quality of life by facilitating access to basic necessities for the population. This study aims to provide [...] Read more.
The concept of the 15 minutes city is increasingly present in the structure of spatial planning for large urban centers, with the main goal of improving quality of life by facilitating access to basic necessities for the population. This study aims to provide an integrated assessment of spatial accessibility for two urban centers that differ in structure and organization, with the main goal of identifying best practices that can be borrowed from one urban center to another in order to streamline sustainable spatial planning based on the strategic concept of the 15 minutes city. The entire research process is based on the development of a completely new and innovative GIS spatial analysis model that will add value to the specialized literature both through the geoinformational approach to the analysis, integration and through the exclusive use the freely available GIS databases (using the OpenStreetMap database), functionally integrated through network analysis and equations weighing the importance of accessibility needs for the population. For the analysis of pedestrian accessibility, in minutes, a total of 4826 locations were used for Cluj–Napoca and 5050 for Pecs, which were structured into 12 subclasses and five main classes (Recreational and Cultural, Public Services and Safety, Education and Health, Commercial, and Public Transport) established in accordance with the main requirements of the 15 minutes city development methodology. The integration of subclasses and accessibility classes was achieved by weighting their importance according to the responses obtained after the implementation of questionnaires to identify the working population’s perception of accessibility in their daily routine. The comparative analysis of the intermediate and final results of the proposed model leads to the establishment of directions and decision-making in the territorial planning process through the transfer of knowledge, solutions, and techniques between the two urban centers to eliminate or reduce negative hotspots and develop a more sustainable urban center in terms of accessibility and as close as possible to a 15 minutes city. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Smart Cities—Urban Planning, Technology and Future Infrastructures)
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23 pages, 409 KB  
Article
Smart Mobility in Public Transport: Autonomous Bus Trials in the Baltic States
by Eugenijus Krikščiūnas and Jaroslav Dvorak
Urban Sci. 2026, 10(3), 172; https://doi.org/10.3390/urbansci10030172 - 20 Mar 2026
Viewed by 665
Abstract
Smart mobility is a vital part of a smart city. Autonomous public transport buses are becoming an increasingly noticeable and significant component of smart mobility. This study examines and compares trials of autonomous public transport buses in Baltic countries (Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania). [...] Read more.
Smart mobility is a vital part of a smart city. Autonomous public transport buses are becoming an increasingly noticeable and significant component of smart mobility. This study examines and compares trials of autonomous public transport buses in Baltic countries (Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania). This research covers the period from 2017 to 2024 and is based on qualitative research methods: case studies, secondary source analysis, conventional content analysis, and comparative analysis. This study found that Estonia was the first among the Baltic countries to begin testing autonomous public transport buses and was the most active, conducting as many as 11 trials. Moreover, Estonia tested autonomous buses at the highest speeds and over the longest distances. Despite relatively promising trials, autonomous public transport buses have encountered certain challenges and disruptions in all three countries. These results suggest that the Baltic States still have room for improvement in the field of smart mobility and autonomous public transport. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Smart Cities—Urban Planning, Technology and Future Infrastructures)
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27 pages, 1083 KB  
Article
Al-Enabled Participatory Urban Planning for Sustainable Smart Cities: Evidence from the Dammam Metropolitan Area, Saudi Arabia
by Abdulkarim K. Alhowaish
Urban Sci. 2026, 10(3), 158; https://doi.org/10.3390/urbansci10030158 - 16 Mar 2026
Viewed by 502
Abstract
Artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly embedded in smart city strategies, yet its role in advancing participatory urban planning remains underexamined, particularly in rapidly urbanizing metropolitan contexts of the Global South. This exploratory, governance-centered study investigates how AI can support participatory urban planning for [...] Read more.
Artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly embedded in smart city strategies, yet its role in advancing participatory urban planning remains underexamined, particularly in rapidly urbanizing metropolitan contexts of the Global South. This exploratory, governance-centered study investigates how AI can support participatory urban planning for sustainable smart cities, emphasizing institutional mediation and trust dynamics. Using a convergent mixed-methods design, the research combines a purposive stakeholder survey (n = 260) with qualitative thematic analysis to assess AI awareness and use, participation quality, institutional and technical readiness, and public trust in the Dammam Metropolitan Area, Saudi Arabia. The findings reveal a participation paradox: relatively high AI awareness and digital readiness coexist with low perceived influence and limited confidence in participatory outcomes. Institutional coordination gaps, skill constraints, and regulatory ambiguity mediate the translation of AI adoption into meaningful engagement. Stakeholders favor AI applications, such as interactive mapping, predictive analytics, and digital twin visualization, that enhance transparency and deliberation over automated decision systems. Qualitative evidence further indicates that AI is perceived not as a standalone solution, but as a catalyst for institutional reform, capacity development, and sustainability-oriented governance. The study contributes to urban science by empirically validating a socio-technical framework that positions AI as a facilitative governance instrument embedded within institutional and trust-building processes. The findings offer policy-relevant insights for cities seeking to align AI-driven innovation with inclusive, accountable, and sustainable urban development. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Smart Cities—Urban Planning, Technology and Future Infrastructures)
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