Smart cities in developing countries: a review of research literature

Abstract

ABSTRACT This paper departs from the need to better understand the intellectual map of smart city research in the context of developing countries which tends to be overlooked within the current smart city literature. A more refined landscape of smart city literature has been therefore carried out by using bibliometric analysis, i.e. a quantitative analysis method to measure and map the current body of knowledge in a scientific discipline, based on academic articles indexed in the Scopus database. In this paper, we employ a provincializing smart urbanism stance, particularly by looking through the lenses of socio-technical system and (variegated) development paths to arrive at a more nuanced understanding of smart cities. First, by looking at the research trends, geographical origins of knowledge production, research themes, and the overall intellectual structure of smart city research we unpack the similarities and differences between the general and developing countries categories. Second, reflecting upon these findings, we provide a more contextualized view of smart city research in developing countries and propose a number of research areas that have so far been overlooked. Given some peculiarities in the intellectual landscape of the smart city in developing countries due to different socio-technical contextual conditions, we suggest the need to attune the smart city label to national and local specifics so that it can aptly address real and multiplex urban challenges.