SYSTEMATIC REVIEW article
Front. Sustain. Cities
Sec. Smart Technologies and Cities
Analyzing sustainable urban development through smart and sustainable cities: An integrated review
Provisionally accepted
- 1Chengdu University of Technology, Chengdu, China
- 2Qassim University, Buraydah, Saudi Arabia
- 3Department of Education, Government of the Punjab, Punjab, Pakistan, Sialkot, Pakistan
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'Smart cities' is an ever-evolving concept focusing on technological integration in urban policymaking to resolve contemporary urban issues. Despite repeated claims that 'smart initiatives' produce sustainability, a detailed research analysis is required to detail the extent to which the desired outcomes have been achieved. Within these academic, research, and policy parameters, the current study discusses the relevance of concepts of 'smart' and 'sustainable cities' through a systematic literature review to answer the inter-dependence of these concepts within modern urban reforms. Our findings highlight that cities cannot be 'truly smart' without becoming sustainable first, and technocentricity, complex policy practices, and ad-hoc conceptualization are the major hurdles in urban sustainability. Furthermore, urgent policy shifts remain key in long-term progressive sustainability goals. As urban policymaking has a wider socio-economic impact, smart and sustainable urban policymaking carries crucial implications for urban compliance and practices within the Sustainable Development Goals.
Keywords: Sustainable city, Smart city, Urbanization, Sustainable development goals, post-anthropocentric city
Received: 28 Aug 2025; Accepted: 12 Nov 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Bashir, Ragmoun, Abdulaziz and Bashir. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Muhammad Farhan Bashir, farhan.paks89@gmail.com
Wided Ragmoun, wided.ragmoun@yahoo.fr
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