João Vitor Souza Teixeira, Renata Maria Abrantes Baracho, Dagobert Soergel

Journal of Systemics, Cybernetics and Informatics, 20(2), 80-90 (2022); https://doi.org/10.54808/JSCI.20.02.80

Architecture School, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, BrazilArchitecture School, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, BrazilDepartment of Information Science, University at Buffalo, Buffalo, New York, United States

Cite this paper as:
Teixeira, J. V. S., Baracho, R. M. A., Soergel, D. (2022). Smart Cities, Sustainability, and Quality of Life – A Comparison of Indexes and the Indicators They Include. Journal of Systemics, Cybernetics and Informatics, 20(2), 80-90. https://doi.org/10.54808/JSCI.20.02.80

This paper compiles and organizes indexes of (1) what makes a city smart, (2) Sustainability, and (3) Quality of Life and examines the application of these indexes in 67 smart city initiatives around the world. There is no consensus on what it means to be a Smart City, yet many cities are adopting Smart City initiatives. Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) are the common denominator. But smart cities should evolve not only in technology but also in sustainable development (measured by UN goals and by indexes such as ISO 37.120:2014) that supports good quality of life (measured by an Urban Quality of Life (UQoL) index, such as the Human Development Index (HDI)). Measuring the smartness of a city requires a complex index. To determine the sub-indexes/themes and the indicators such an index should include, we analyzed seven indexes: two for sustainability, two for the quality of life, and three for smart cities and compared the sub-indexes/themes they include. Then we surveyed the websites of 67 smart city initiatives to see for each sub-index/theme how many smart city initiatives considered it. The themes that appeared in the highest number of indexes were also most frequent in smart city initiatives; cities tackle the same problems of society.