The role of digital technologies in the development of Smart Sustainable Cities. An overview and the potential scenarios

The environmental impact of smart city projects has not been fully detected yet. The creation of a Smart Sustainable City (SSC) requires the application of digital technologies within the urban context. These technologies can contribute significantly to achieving the sustainable goals set out in the European Green Deal and the UN’s Agenda 2030. However, those solutions have a huge impact on the emission of greenhouse gas, the exploitation of natural resources (such as electricity and the so-called ‘rare earths’), the democratization of public services and the protection of human rights. This research intends to map the main digital solutions and their applications within the urban context through a review of the existing literature and the most famous case studies in order to verify their real impact on the implementation of a Smart Sustainable City, both from an environmental and a social perspective. The paper also analyzes the potential scenarios of the application of these technologies in designing a Smart Sustainable City.