Smartainity: A Comprehensive Framework for Urban Performance Assessment in African Smart Cities with Key Performance Indicators

Smart cities are emerging as a potential solution to the challenges of urbanization, especially in the African context. However, there is a lack of a comprehensive and systematic framework for assessing the performance of smart cities in terms of sustainability and smartness. This paper proposes Smartainity, a novel methodology for urban performance assessment based on Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) that cover five dimensions: technology and innovation, economy, energy, society and living, and environment. The framework is designed to be flexible, scalable, and adaptable to different contexts and scenarios. The paper also presents the application of Smartainity to the case study of Casablanca Smart City 2023, a pilot scheme in Morocco that aims to transform the city into a smart and sustainable urban hub. The paper discusses the strengths and limitations of the methodology, as well as the future directions for its improvement and expansion. The paper contributes to the literature on smart cities by providing a new perspective on urban performance assessment that integrates sustainability and smartness criteria.