The purpose of this chapter is to provide an exploration of the smart cities concept in relation to urban life while being attentive to emerging AI developments. As such, a review of the research and practice literature for urban life is presented in this chapter in terms of the evolving development of smart cities over the 2011–2024 timeframe, attentive to issues, developments, and emergent ecosystems for collaboration and innovation. Challenges and opportunities emerging from this review provide the basis for the formulation of a conceptual framework guiding the exploratory methodological approach used to conduct the more in-depth probing of variables that were surfaced. This chapter is also enriched with the presentation and analysis of findings from conference-based polling conducted in mid-2024, focusing on urban life in an era of AI. Insights, limitations, and future directions are provided as part of concluding comments.