Smart Cities: Accelerating Sustainable Development Agendas

Continuing with my previous editorial notes on smart cities and technology advancement, this note discusses how smart cities can be enablers to achieving sustainable development agendas. Smart cities harness technological and digital solutions to address urban challenges and continuously improve citizens’ quality of life. The key benefits of smart cities include maximizing benefit optimization and resource efficiency, creating sustainable built environments and infrastructure, increasing citizens’ productivity, and producing better social, economic, and environmental benefits. The use of artificial intelligence (AI) for actionable insights into improving the planning, construction, and operations of city development has provided citizens with more efficient, integrated, and sustainable city services. Smart cities promote equitable access to education, healthcare, and social services, creating a more inclusive and resilient society.