Topic Discovery on Sustainable Smart City Development

The smart city concept has evolved towards a human-centric approach but lacks a consensus definition and sufficient research on societal, environmental, and human aspects in sustainable digital transformations. Therefore, this paper aims to conduct a comprehensive topic analysis of smart city development literature from 2017 to 2021, with a focus on examining the evolution of themes and the emerging need for a human-centered approach in this domain. This study integrates text mining analysis with a holistic review of multidisciplinary literature, transcending the traditional technological aspects and emphasizing social, environmental, and people-oriented issues within government-led sustainable digital transformation. The results underscore the criticality of addressing not just technological sustainability in smart cities but also the human sustainability aspects such as social and public participation, ethical and security issues, and improving life quality. This study provides a basis for fostering a dialogue that seeks to align smart city development with the holistic ethos of Innovation 5.0 and Society 5.0, ultimately driving a more sustainable and human-centric future for urban areas.