Smart cities and quality of life: a quantitative analysis of citizens' support for smart city development

PurposeThis study examined a tourism destination, Macao, a fast-progressing smart city under development, vis-à-vis a set of smart city quality of life (SCQOL) domains and verified their effects on citizens' attitudes, perceptions and support for citizen-centric smart city development (SCD).Design/methodology/approachThis study adopted a quantitative approach. In particular, a questionnaire survey was used to collect data from Macao citizens. Factor analysis was used to identify SCQOL domains, while multiple linear regression and cluster analysis were used to achieve the research objectives.FindingsThis study identified five SCQOL domains: smart environment, smart people, smart livelihood, smart economy and economic policy, and smart mobility. Each of the domains had a different influence on citizens' attitudes and support for SCD. Three citizen segments (passive, neutral and enthusiastic supporters) were identified.Practical implicationsThe five SCQOL domains, their effects on citizens' support for SCD and the three citizen segments identified can help implement the appropriate measures to enhance the target groups' SCD. The findings are also of practical value in evaluating the citizen-centric approaches on smart progress in other contexts.Originality/valueThe concept of smart technology has been widely applied to all aspects of city development. The main goal of SCD is to enhance citizens' quality of life. However, most studies have only explored smart cities and quality of life in isolation. Grounded on citizen centrality, this study contributes to the literature on SCD by proposing a new concept of SCQOL, identifying the domains constituting SCQOL and their influence on citizens' support for SCD.

Smart Urban Mobility System Evaluation Model Adaptation to Vilnius, Montreal and Weimar Cities

To date, there is no developed and validated way to assess urban smartness. When evaluating smart city mobility systems, different authors distinguish different indicators. After analysing the evaluation indicators of the transport system presented in the scientific articles, the most relevant and influential indicators were selected. This article develops a hierarchical evaluation model for evaluating a smart city transportation system. The indicators are divided into five groups called “factors”. Several indicators are assigned to each of the listed groups. A hybrid multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) method was used to calculate the significance of the selected indicators and to compare urban mobility systems. The applied multi-criteria evaluation methods were simple additive weighting (SAW), complex proportional assessment (COPRAS), and technique for order preference by similiarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS). The significance of factors and indicators was determined by expert evaluation methods: the analytic hierarchy process (AHP), direct, when experts evaluate the criteria as a percentage (sum of evaluations of all criteria 100%) and ranking (prioritisation). The evaluation and comparison of mobility systems were performed in two stages: when the multi-criteria evaluation is performed according to the indicators of each factor separately and when performing a comprehensive assessment of the smart mobility system according to the integrated significance of the indicators. A leading city is identified and ranked according to the smartness level. The aim of this article is to create a hierarchical evaluation model of the smart mobility systems, to compare the smartness level of Vilnius, Montreal, and Weimar mobility systems, and to create a ranking.

Smart Mobility in the Mediterranean Cities

Smart mobility is linked to the ability to create transport efficiency in cities. Indeed, the increase of smart mobility within cities has a positive impact on citizens. The ability to create new projects related to smart mobility and its ability to involve the ecosystem, especially citizens, is part of urban planning in many countries and carries out this work. This study presents the urban projects in some Mediterranean cities and their impact on the externalities of smart mobility. The results show that the deployment of smart mobility has a positive impact on urban development and there is remarkable progress in connecting citizens, especially in cities where smart mobility is the result of investments in sustainable development. Based on the latest projects in smart cities in the Mediterranean and the Sustainable Development Goals for 2030, the study will help to evaluate urban projects but also to understand how cities increase the well-being of citizens.

Economic Dividends of the Abraham Accords

The UAE and Israel had no direct relations before August 2020, as UAE had not recognized Israel as a state. However, the UAE was keen on building diplomatic relations with all countries in the recent past and is progressively becoming more liberal and tolerant. The UAE signed the historic Abraham Accord with Israel in September 2020. The Abraham Accord is an avenue of peace. It supports the efforts for prosperity and advancement as it paves the way for deepening economic, knowledge and cultural ties between the countries. There are opportunities to expand cooperation, engagement and knowledge sharing in various sectors such as agriculture, energy, technology, tourism, education, health care and services, trade and homeland security, climate issues, water, food security and smart mobility. Since September 2020, several transactions have been signed between Israeli and Emirati firms in different fields, valued at tens of millions of dollars. On the anniversary of the agreements, the volume of trade between Israel and the Emirates amounted to more than $ 100 million per month. The Abraham Accord has paved the way, is gradually improving the relationships in the region, and will slowly but surely lead to better peace and economic prosperity of the region.

Research and Innovation Supporting the European Sustainable and Smart Mobility Strategy: A Technology Perspective from Recent European Union Projects

Many concepts and innovations aim to improve transport and mobility, while helping to decrease the externalities that transport imposes on society. Research and innovation monitoring tools are important to assess the current state of development so that research funding and policy making efforts can be aligned optimally. This paper presents a comprehensive approach which links technological developments in the transport sector in Europe to the objectives of the most recent policy developments, in particular, the 2020 European Sustainable and Smart Mobility Strategy. It does so by identifying and evaluating technologies from European Union-funded projects between 2007 and 2020, by means of a technology taxonomy. Information is provided at an aggregated level on funding characteristics of both projects and the technologies, while at the same time, the level of maturity of researched technologies in the most recent projects is identified. This study can aid policy makers to support the future development of transport technologies as part of pertinent policy strategies and identify research gaps.

Blockchain for Smart Mobility—Literature Review and Future Research Agenda

Today’s cities face numerous challenges due to climate change and urbanization. The concept of a smart city aims to help cities to address these challenges by adapting modern information and communication technology. Smart mobility and transportation form one important aspect of smart cities. Inefficient mobility in cities can lead to problems such as traffic congestion, which results in frustration for residents and a decrease in the quality of life. Against the backdrop of global warming, cities also strive to reduce CO2 emissions, an attempt which requires sustainable and novel mobility concepts. Blockchain is a current technology, said to have huge potential, that is being investigated for application in many facets of smart cities. In the context of smart mobility, blockchain can be used for transactions relating to ridesharing and electric charging, handling of interactions of platoon members, or serving as a foundation for communication between vehicles. Although initial research about this topic exists, it is distributed among different use-cases and applications. This article conducts a systematic literature review to analyze blockchain’s role in mobility and transportation in smart cities, and its potential to increase efficiency in these areas. With this review, we aim to consolidate and summarize the current knowledge about this topic. As a first result, we present the findings from our literature review, which can be divided into five categories of use-cases. We also present a platform for further research about this emerging topic by identifying promising future research avenues. For this purpose, we derive a future research agenda based on our findings.