Smart Platforms for Social Cohesion and Experience Economy: SANA as a Model for Human-Centric Smart Cities

A resident-centered social experience platform has the potential to create social cohesion and stimulate the local experience economy within smart city contexts. This study bridges smart living, the experience economy, and digital platform design to address the lack of integrated socio-economic and civic models in current platforms. The methodology involves a qualitative comparative case study of three global platforms (Meetup, Airbnb Experiences, and Decidim). The comparative analysis yields four core design principles: (i) social cohesion and social capital, (ii) value creation, (iii) human-centric participation, and (iv) smart technical features. These principles are used to structure a proposed platform framework within a smart city ecosystem. Findings demonstrate that an integrated experience platform can enhance smart living. This ensures the fostering and bonding of social capital through curated local activities, enabling resident-to-resident economic participation, aligning platform governance and technical architecture with cultural context, and smart city infrastructure. The proposed SANA Platform Design Framework offers actionable guidance for platform designers and policymakers aiming to strike a balance between social cohesion and economic vitality in human-centric smart cities, thereby supporting Saudi Vision 2030’s objectives for resilient, inclusive, and human-centric urban development.