| Building Responsible Smart Cities Toolkit (UNDP RBAP) |
July 2025 (UNDP) |
Guidance for local & national governments and private sectors on developing smart city initiatives in ways that are responsible. Emphasizes inclusivity, governance frameworks, data privacy, ethical uses of tech, citizen participation. Useful for ensuring smart city projects don’t worsen inequities. |
| International Guidelines on People-Centred Smart Cities (UN-Habitat) |
March 2025 (UN-Habitat) |
Lays out guidelines for digital infrastructure, governance, planning, participatory practices. Focused on ensuring smart cities are human-centric: balancing tech integration with equity, accessibility, environment. Useful benchmark for policy and planning. |
| Smart Cities Market Report 2025-2034 (Global Forecast) |
~8 months ago (2024-2025) (The Business Research Company) |
Forecasts smart cities market to grow from about US$792 billion in 2024 to nearly US$1.94 trillion by 2029. Growth drivers include urbanization, demand for smart utilities/transport, energy/water management, smart healthcare. Highlights which regions/components are expanding fastest. |
| Trends in 2025 for Smart Cities (Capgemini) |
~5 months ago (Capgemini) |
Examines how cities are integrating advanced technologies—IoT, connectivity, digital twin, AI, edge computing—to improve infrastructure, public services, sustainability. Emphasis on smart infrastructure becoming more resilient (climate, disaster), push for inclusive design and citizen engagement. |
| Smart Cities, Volume 8, Issue 1 (MDPI) |
February 2025 (MDPI) |
Academic special issue with multiple articles. Topics include nature-positive smart city frameworks, combining green / urban nature + IoT / smart systems, machine learning for environmental monitoring, city planning from ecological perspectives. Good for seeing research frontiers. |
| Reimagining People-Centered Smart Cities: A Consultation on the UN-Habitat Guidelines (Carnegie Endowment) |
March 2025 (Carnegie Endowment) |
Explores how smart city innovation can align with social goals: equity, sustainability, welfare. Looks at what people expect, policy gaps, how to reorient smart tech so that it enhances quality of life rather than just efficiency. Good for normative framework. |
| U.S. GAO: Smart Cities (Smart Technologies and Public Services) |
April 2025 (Government Accountability Office) |
Focused on how U.S. cities use smart technologies for service delivery (transportation, law enforcement etc.), what benefits & challenges are seen (e.g. privacy, civil liberties), and what policy options exist to get more benefit while reducing risks. |
