This book constitutes the proceedings of this year’s Sustainable Smart Cities and Territories International Conference (SSCt 2021), held in Doha, Qatar, from the 27th to the 29th of April 2021. The SSCt 2021 is an open symposium that brings together researchers and developers from academia and industry to present and discuss the latest scientific and technical advances in the fields of Smart Cities and Smart Territories. It promotes an environment for discussion on how techniques, methods, and tools help system designers accomplish the transition from the current cities towards those we need in a changing world. The program includes keynote abstracts, a main technical track, two workshops, and a doctoral consortium. The symposium is organized by the Texas A&M University at Qatar. We would like to thank all the contributing authors, the members of the Local Committee, Scientific Committee, Organizing Committee, and the sponsors (Texas A&M University of Qatar, AIR Institute and the IoT Digital Innovation Hub) for their hard work and dedication.

This book comprises a selection of the top contributions presented at the second international conference “Smart and Sustainable Planning for Cities and Regions 2017”, held in March 2017 in Bolzano, Italy. Featuring forty-six papers by policy-makers, academics and consultants, it discusses current groundbreaking research in smart and sustainable planning, including the progress made in overcoming cities’ challenges towards improving the quality of life. Climate change adaptation and mitigation of global warming, generally identified as drivers of global policies, are just the “tip of the iceberg” when it comes to smart energy transition. Indeed, equally relevant towards this current transformation – and key topics in this volume – are ICTs, public spaces and society; next economy for the city; strategies and actions for good governance; urban-rural innovation; rethinking mobility. The book’s depth in understanding and insightfulness in re-thinking demonstrate the breaking of new ground in smart and sustainable planning. A new ground that policy-makers, academics and consultants may build upon as a bedrock for smart and sustainable planning.

This book presents the latest scientific and technical advances in the fields of Smart Cities and Smart Territories. It shows outcomes of 2nd Sustainable Smart Cities and Territories International Conference in Manizales (Colombia) on June 21–23, 2023. The concept of smart cities, which emerged in the early 2000s, attempts to solve these challenges by implementing information and communication technologies. The initial concept of smart cities focused on the modernization of megacities.

With the rise of information and communication technologies in today’s world, many regions have begun to adapt into more resource-efficient communities. Integrating technology into a region’s use of resources, also known as smart territories, is becoming a trending topic of research. Understanding the relationship between these innovative techniques and how they impact social innovation is vital when analyzing the sustainable growth of highly populated regions. The Handbook of Research on Smart Territories and Entrepreneurial Ecosystems for Social Innovation and Sustainable Growth is a pivotal reference source that provides vital research on the global practices and initiatives of smart territories as well as their impact on sustainable development in different communities. While highlighting topics such as waste management, social innovation, and digital optimization, this publication is ideally designed for civil engineers, urban planners, policymakers, economists, administrators, social scientists, business executives, researchers, educators, and students seeking current research on the development of smart territories and entrepreneurship in various environments.

This volume provides the most current research on smart cities. Specifically, it focuses on the economic development and sustainability of smart cities and examines how to transform older industrial cities into sustainable smart cities. It aims to identify the role of the following elements in the creation and management of smart cities:• Citizen participation and empowerment • Value creation mechanisms • Public administration• Quality of life and sustainability• Democracy• ICT• Private initiatives and entrepreneurship Regardless of their size, all cities are ultimately agglomerations of people and institutions. Agglomeration economies make it possible to attain minimum efficiencies of scale in the organization and delivery of services. However, the economic benefits do not constitute the main advantage of a city. A city’s status rests on three dimensions: (1) political impetus, which is the result of citizens’ participation and the public administration’s agenda; (2) applications derived from technological advances (especially in ICT); and (3) cooperation between public and private initiatives in business development and entrepreneurship. These three dimensions determine which resources are necessary to create smart cities. But a smart city, ideal in the way it channels and resolves technological, social and economic-growth issues, requires many additional elements to function at a high-performance level, such as culture (an environment that empowers and engages citizens) and physical infrastructure designed to foster competition and collaboration, encourage new ideas and actions, and set the stage for new business creation. Featuring contributions with models, tools and cases from around the world, this book will be a valuable resource for researchers, students, academics, professionals and policymakers interested in smart cities.

The smart city is a driver of change, innovation, competitiveness, and networking for businesses and organizations based on the concept of the Sustainable Development Goals for the 2030 agenda. The importance of a new paradigm regarding the externalities of the environment, citizen welfare, and natural resources in cities as an impact of urban ecosystems is the main objective for sustainable development in cities through 2030. Smart Cities, Citizen Welfare, and the Implementation of Sustainable Development Goals provides innovative insights into the key developments and new trends associated with online challenges and opportunities in smart cities based on the concept of the Sustainable Development Goals. The content within this publication represents research encompassing corporate social responsibility, economic policy, and city planning. This book serves as a vital reference source for urban planners, policymakers, managers, entrepreneurs, graduate-level students, researchers, and academicians seeking coverage on topics centered on conceptual, technological, and design issues related to smart city development in Europe.

This book takes you on a unique journey through American history, taking time to consider the forces that shaped the development of various cities and regions, and arrives at an unexpected conclusion regarding sustainability. From the American Dream to globalization to the digital and information revolutions, we assume that humans have taken control of our collective destinies in spite of potholes in the road such as the Great Recession of 2007-2009. However, these attitudes were formed during a unique 100-year period of human history in which a large but finite supply of fossil fuels was tapped to feed our economic and innovation engine. Today, at the peak of the Oil Age, the horizon looks different. Cities such as Los Angeles, Phoenix and Las Vegas are situated where water and other vital ecological services are scarce, and the enormous flows of resources and energy that were needed to create the megalopolises of the 20th century will prove unsustainable. Climate change is a reality, and regional impacts will become increasingly severe. Economies such as Las Vegas, which are dependent on discretionary income and buffeted by climate change, are already suffering the fate of the proverbial canary in the coal mine. Finite resources will mean profound changes for society in general and the energy-intensive lifestyles of the US and Canada in particular. But not all regions are equally vulnerable to these 21st-century megatrends. Are you ready to look beyond “America’s Most Livable Cities” to the critical factors that will determine the sustainability of your municipality and region? Find out where your city or region ranks according to the forces that will impact our lives in the next years and decades. Find out how: ·resource availability and ecological services shaped the modern landscape ·emerging megatrends will make cities and regions more or less livable in the new century ·your city or region ranks on a “sustainability” map of the United States ·urban metabolism puts large cities at particular risk ·sustainability factors will favor economic solutions at a local, rather than global, level ·these principles apply to industrial economies and countries globally. This book should be cited as follows: J. Day, C. Hall, E. Roy, M. Moersbaecher, C. D'Elia, D. Pimentel, and A. Yanez. 2016. America's most sustainable cities and regions: Surviving the 21st century megatrends. Springer, New York. 348 p.