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DIGNITAS n Transforming cities into smart sustainable cities
Abstr Act
On the one hand, the world is facing rapid urban growth—and, 
on the other hand, rapid technological development. t he growth 
of cities creates many environmental, social, and economic chal-
lenges, which cities are increasingly solving with the help of 
various technologies. t his article proceeds from the question of 
whether it is also possible to take into account the concept of sus-
tainable development. On the basis of a critical analysis, it was 
realized that, to solve the challenges of the growth of cities, tech-
nological and sustainable development must take place simulta-
neously. t his is the only way to ensure a high quality of life for all 
residents in cities, both now and in the future. t ransforming cities 
into smart sustainable cities should therefore become the main 
paradigm of future global development.
Keywords: cities, urban growth, sustainable development, 
smart cities, quality of life
Preobrazba mest v pametna trajnostna mesta
POvzetek
svet se po eni strani sooča s hitro rastjo mest, po drugi pa z na-
glim tehnološkim razvojem. r ast mest prinaša številne okoljske, 
družbene in gospodarske izzive, ki pa jih mesta vse bolj rešujejo 
s pomočjo različnih tehnologij. v članku izhajamo iz vprašanja, 
ali je ob tem možno upoštevati tudi koncept trajnostnega razvo-
ja. Na podlagi kritične analize smo prišli do spoznanja, da mora-
ta za potrebe reševanja izzivov rasti mest tehnološki in trajnosti 
t ransforming cities into smart 
sustainable cities
Boštjan Kerbler

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DIGNITAS n Sustainability and housing 
razvoj v njih potekati sočasno. Le tako se namreč lahko zagotovi 
visoka kakovost bivanja vseh prebivalcev v mestih, tako v sedan-
josti kot tudi v prihodnje. Preobrazba mest v pametna trajnost 
mesta bo zato postala glavna paradigma prihodnjega svetovne-
ga razvoja.
Ključne besede: mesta, rast mest, trajnostni razvoj, pametna 
mesta, kakovost bivanja
1. Introduction
c ities are of great importance to humanity. “t he major part 
of economic potential and production is located in cities, they 
are centers of goods exchange, services and information, they 
are centers of power and decision-making, and centers where 
cultural life and social reproduction are formed.” (rebernik, 
2008, p. 9) because cities are centers of cultural, social, and po-
litical activity, they must therefore provide conditions for the 
wellbeing and residence of all their citizens. (kerbler, 2011) 
With the rapid development of the modern information society, 
cities realize this commitment by transforming into smart cities. 
A smart city uses various technologies to improve the efficiency 
of its operations, services, and competitiveness, thereby rais-
ing the quality of life of its residents. (Akande et al., 2019) t he 
transformation of cities into smart cities is even more important 
because modern cities face rapid growth and many challenges 
that growth brings. t herefore, the research question arises as to 
whether cities can simultaneously realize the commitments of 
sustainable development, as the main model of future develop-
ment in the world, (United Nations, 2015) and become smart 
sustainable cities.
2. Growth of cities
t he world’s population has increased dramatically in recent 
decades. t oday there are about eight billion people living on earth, 
and in 2050 there will be around ten billion people. In 2009, for 
the first time, humanity crossed the line where more people live 
in cities than outside them. (Akande et al., 2019) c urrently, 56% of 
the world’s population lives in cities. (World Urban Population, 
2022, e-source
 
) Of these, as many as 1.7 billion people live in cit-

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DIGNITAS n Transforming cities into smart sustainable cities
ies with more than one million inhabitants. (van den buusea & 
kolk, 2018) by 2025, around 58% of the world’s population, or 4.6 
billion people, are expected to live in urban areas. (Mohanty et al., 
2016) In the following years, the number of people living in cities 
is only expected to increase. According to the United Nations, the 
urban population is expected to increase by almost 700 million 
by 2030, reaching a total of 5.2 billion. t his means that, by 2030, 
60% of the population will live in cities. (Yigitcanlar & kamruz-
zaman, 2018) It is also predicted that by 2050 approximately 6.3 
billion people, or around 70% of the world’s population, will live 
in urban areas, (Mohanty et al., 2016) and by the end of the cen-
tury the share is expected to exceed 80% of the world population. 
some countries have already exceeded this share; (Yigitcanlar & 
kamruzzaman, 2018) for example, Argentina, the United states, 
c anada, Australia, brazil, the United kingdom, sweden, Norway, 
and spain. (t he World bank, 2022, e-source
 
)
t hese data are astonishing, especially if it is realized that, in 
1950, 730 million or 28.8% of people lived in cities. (k erbler, 2011) 
In the last century, fewer than twenty cities had a population of 
one million or more, and in 2022 there were already more than 
510 cities with a population of more than one million. (Infoplease, 
2022, e-source
 
) t he highest level of urbanization will be achieved 
in North America and Latin America (namely, 90%), and it will rise 
the most in Africa and Asia, where the share of the urban popu-
lation will increase by more than a fifth in the next forty years. 
Despite the high level of urbanization in developed countries, 
in 2050 less-developed parts of the world will have as much as 
five times more urban population than developed ones. (k erbler, 
2011)
Megacities (i.e., cities with more than ten million inhabitants) 
will also continue to grow. In 1950, there were only two megaci-
ties in the world: New York and t okyo. t he former had 12.4 and 
the latter 11.3 million inhabitants. (Gurjar & Lelieveld, 2005) be-
tween 1950 and 2010, the number of megacities increased from 
two to twenty-one. In 2010, 9% of the world’s population lived in 
them. (kerbler, 2011) t here are currently thirty-four cities in the 
world with more than ten million inhabitants. Most of the meg-
acities are located in Asia (twenty-one cities), Latin America (six 
cities), and Africa (three cities). currently the largest city in the 
world is the t okyo Metropolitan Area, with 37 million inhabitants. 

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DIGNITAS n Sustainability and housing 
It is followed by Delhi (31 million) and shanghai (28 million). Ac-
cording to the calculations of the United Nations, the number of 
megacities will increase to forty-three by 2030. At that time, Delhi 
will be the world’s largest city, with almost 39 million inhabitants. 
(statistisches bundesamt, 2022, e-source
 
) Although the growth 
and expansion of megacities has attracted a lot of attention from 
the public, according to the United Nations Population Fund, 
above all cities with fewer than five million inhabitants will grow 
in the future. (k erbler, 2011)
t he growth of cities is mainly related to the technological and 
economic development of society. c ities offer many services and 
at the same time opportunities. People immigrate into them on a 
large scale, especially many young people, due to better opportu-
nities for obtaining an education, career development, a greater 
number of jobs, easier access to various services, and quality of 
life. (stimmel, 2016) t he desire for quality of life is universal and 
is shared by all people. Quality of life factors are socioeconomic 
status, dwelling, education, knowledge and skills, employment, 
balance between work and free time, family relationships, health 
and the health system, personal wellbeing, and social environ-
ment. All of these factors affect the quality of life, even in urban 
centers. t he urban environment affects an individual’s physical, 
social, and mental wellbeing, and for this reason it is important 
for an individual to live in a healthy and stimulating environment. 
People have the right to clean air, access to clean drinking water, 
and adequate housing. In cities, access to green areas, accessible 
public transport, safety, and opportunities for social interaction 
are particularly important. (european environment Agency, 2009) 
With such rapid growth of cities and urban populations, ensuring 
all of this is a great challenge.
3. Challenges of urban growth
c ities are characterized by being relatively densely populated 
areas with many people. t he growth of cities and the rapid in-
crease in the urban population therefore places a heavy burden 
on urban infrastructure and services in cities and raises various 
questions regarding environmental protection, which affects the 
quality of life in cities. (Fernandez-Anez et al., 2018) t here are 
major problems in mobility. Due to the increasing number of in-

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DIGNITAS n Transforming cities into smart sustainable cities
habitants, traffic, and commuters in cities, traffic jams and ever-in-
creasing traffic chaos are created. (Akande et al., 2019) c ongestion 
occurs, which has a negative impact on the economy, society, and 
the environment, and increases fuel consumption and environ-
mental pollution. t he problem can be solved by making better 
use of public passenger transport, which would reduce the pres-
sure on city centers and occupied parking lots, but people still do 
not use it enough. t he most common reason for this is inflexibility 
and accessibility, as a result of which passengers spend too much 
time on public transport. (Pečar & Papa, 2017) However, traffic is 
only one of the problems that cities face. t he growth of cities also 
affects problems in the supply of water, waste, energy, and so on. 
c urrently, cities consume 75% of the world’s resources and ener-
gy, resulting in 80% of greenhouse gases. t hus, there may be seri-
ous negative impacts on the environment in the coming decades. 
(Mohanty et al., 2016) Additional problems and shortcomings ap-
pear in developing cities, especially in developing countries. With 
the growth of these cities, the crime rate increases sharply, unem-
ployment rises, the infrastructure ages, major problems arise in 
the supply of electricity and other urban infrastructure, break-
downs are common, and so on. (k umar et al., 2020)
In general, cities are characterized by their “metabolism,” 
consisting of the input of goods and the amount of waste, with 
consistent negative externalities that reinforce environmental, 
social, and economic problems. c ities have so far relied on too 
many external resources and are actually (and probably always 
will be) consumers of resources. (t urcu, 2013) All this presents a 
serious challenge for planners. t he solution, however, is not to 
reduce the population density in cities because lower city den-
sity does not mean that there are fewer negative impacts in the 
city—quite the opposite. In less densely populated cities, more 
energy is used for electricity and transport, as evidenced by the 
fact that carbon dioxide emissions per inhabitant decrease as the 
density of urban areas increases. (Hammer et al., 2011) However, 
the greater concentration of population and activities in cities 
requires integrated solutions that cover various urban systems, 
such as the energy supply system, the drinking water supply sys-
tem, the infrastructure system, the traffic management system, 
and so on. (berardi, 2013a, 2013b
 
) Different technologies can 
help cities in this.

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DIGNITAS n Sustainability and housing 
4.  The help of technologies in the growth  
of cities
In recent decades, the development of various technologies 
has advanced greatly. Many cities have already demonstrated 
many good practices for improving the quality and efficiency of 
city services, based on technologies that are increasingly present 
in people’s private lives, business environments, and also public 
life, making cities and the people in them increasingly digitalized. 
(kumar et al., 2020) Modern mobile devices make it possible to 
obtain a wide variety of information with the help of sensors. sen-
sors accompany us everywhere; that is, in cars, on phones and 
tablets, in houses, along roads, and so on.
c ities are based on systems that are essential to their function-
ing and development, which is reflected in city services, busi-
nesses, city administration, and so on. t he effectiveness of these 
systems determines how a city operates and how successful it is 
in achieving its goals. c ities must therefore change their systems 
so that they are digitized, interconnected, and intelligent. With 
this, the systems become measurable, they can communicate with 
each other and exchange the data they analyze, and, based on the 
results of the analysis, decision-makers and various services in cit-
ies can take effective action. t herefore, the more these systems 
are interconnected, the better the overview of the functioning of 
the city as a whole. (Dirks & k eeling, 2009)
t echnology therefore makes possible the continuous and com-
prehensive collection of a large amount of data. At the same time, 
these data enable the city’s residents to improve their quality of 
life, effectively manage resources and infrastructure, reduce pol-
lution, manage risks, and integrate planning and participation. 
t echnologies therefore allow cities to become smart and thereby 
transform into smart cities. (berrone & r icart, 2018)
However, on the one hand, the growth of cities occurs, and, 
on the other, technologies are constantly developing. In this way, 
technologies also promote the development of smart cities, not 
only the challenges created by the growth of cities. However, the 
development of smart cities presents new challenges to city plan-
ners and managers because on the one hand the goal is economic 
growth, and on the other the desire for a healthy and clean living 
environment, which can be mutually exclusive. It is also impor-

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DIGNITAS n Transforming cities into smart sustainable cities
tant that the city work in all areas of public services. t his means 
that technologies and systems in the city are adapted to all social 
groups and everyone benefits from this. (stimmel, 2016; berrone 
& r icart, 2018)
c ities around the world have begun to tackle the challenges of 
growth in a systematic way. Many new approaches related to ur-
ban services are increasingly based on the exploitation of technol-
ogies that help create smart cities. (Albino et al., 2015) c ity manag-
ers have found that it is possible to save significant resources (up 
to 20% of all resources spent on the management, maintenance, 
and planning of cities) with the help of technologies and by estab-
lishing effective control in the city. (berrone & r icart, 2018) How-
ever, although many cities around the world have already success-
fully coped with the problems caused by the urban growth with 
the help of technologies, it will still be necessary to invest a lot 
in the development of smart solutions. t here are still more prob-
lems, and they arise faster than the solution. t herefore, in addition 
to the introduction of smart cities, it is necessary to start thinking 
and acting more sustainably.
5. Sustainable development of cities
In the context of sustainability, reflections on urban develop-
ment are not new and have been on global agendas for several 
decades, anchored in global debates and forums. In response to 
the challenges of urban growth, the idea of   the concept of sus-
tainable development first emerged in 1972 at the United Nations 
c onference on the Human environment in stockholm. Although 
the term was not explicitly stated, the international community 
agreed that both development and the environment, which until 
then had been treated separately, could be managed in a mutually 
beneficial way. (Mensah, 2019)
With the help of the World c ommission on environment and 
Development, in 1987 the United Nations published the report 
Our Common Future. t he commission was chaired at the time by 
the Norwegian politician and diplomat Gro Harlem brundtland, 
and for that reason the report was also called the brundtland re-
port. t he report took a critical view of the development model 
adopted by industrialized countries and reproduced by develop-
ing ones. t he report emphasized that economic and social pro-

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DIGNITAS n Sustainability and housing 
gress cannot be based on indiscriminate exploration and degra-
dation of nature. It has also been suggested that poverty in the 
“Global south” and extreme consumerism in the “Global North” 
will be the root causes of unsustainable development and an en-
vironmental crisis. Although the report did not present simple 
guidelines for action, it did reveal the ideological force that estab-
lished an agreement between generations that is used as a consen-
sus definition of sustainable development; that is, “development 
that meets the needs of the present without compromising the 
ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” (schiavo & 
Magalhães, 2022)
During the earth summit in r io de Janeiro in 1992 (known as 
r io-92), led by the United Nations World c ommission on environ-
ment and Development, the leaders of 179 countries agreed to 
and signed Global Agenda 21. t his was an action program that 
was based on a single document with forty chapters, and it is 
still considered today the most promising attempt to promote a 
new pattern of development at the planetary level. (bac, 2008) 
Agenda 21 was a term used in the sense of the desired develop-
ment model of the twenty-first century. It could be defined as a 
planning tool for building sustainable societies in different geo-
graphical locations and coordinating methods of environmental 
protection, social justice, and economic efficiency. During the 
Millennium summit in 2000, held by the United Nations in New 
York, the leaders of 191 countries signed a pact for a peaceful, just, 
and sustainable future by 2015 and defined the Millennium Devel-
opment Goals (MDGs). t he agenda included eight development 
goals of the new millennium, defined in detail in eighteen specific 
goals and forty-eight indicators. c urrent goals—that is, sustainable 
Development Goals (sDGs)—succeeded and updated the MDGs. 
t he construction of the sDGs began in 2012 after the r io+ 20 con-
ference. t he process was completed in 2015 during the United 
Nations summit on sustainable Development, when 193 United 
Nations members agreed to a proposed agenda titled t ransform-
ing Our World: t he 2030 Agenda for sustainable Development. 
It is also known as the 2030 Agenda and consists of seventeen 
sDGs, 169 specific targets, a section on means of implementation, 
a renewed partnership council, and an evaluation and monitoring 
mechanism. t he seventeen sDGs guide policies and activities for 
international cooperation until 2030 and represent a global call to 

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DIGNITAS n Transforming cities into smart sustainable cities
action to end poverty, to protect the planet, and to ensure that by 
2030 all people enjoy peace and prosperity. eleven sDGs aim to 
make cities and communities more inclusive, safe, resilient, and 
sustainable. (schiavo & Magalhães, 2022) t his made it clear that 
current urbanization, especially in large cities, requires thoughtful 
strategies and innovative planning for modernization and quality 
urban life. (Akande et al., 2019)
6. Smart sustainable cities
Although sustainability has become the fundamental paradigm 
of urban development, the question arises whether sustainable 
cities can be smart cities at the same time. (Glasmeier et al., 2015; 
Albino et al., 2015) In the literature, the terms sustainable city and 
smart city are considered separately. t he former includes a wide 
range of definitions that include many areas related to issues of 
sustainability and the viability of cities, whereas the latter is de-
fined by the use of technologies. (van den buusea & kolk, 2018) 
Opinions about the compatibility of the two terms differ. t hose 
that support their compatibility defend the view that a smart city 
is also sustainable. In their opinion, a smart city has the same goals 
as a sustainable city; that is, to become more sustainable and pro-
vide better living conditions, which can be achieved by integrating 
high-tech solutions into the urban environment. (Mortensen et al., 
2012) A smart city therefore uses technologies for better govern-
ance while providing sustainable solutions, thus making a smart 
city sustainable. (silva et al., 2018) A sustainable city and a smart 
city should therefore not be mutually exclusive. even more: the 
smart city concept is a model (or way) of sustainable city develop-
ment. According to the advocates of sustainability in smart cities, 
it is possible that the development of sustainable cities would take 
longer if smart solutions were not introduced in sustainability be-
cause the development would be based on the use of traditional 
planning tools; that is, without high-tech solutions that are part of 
a smart city and can help in reducing the consumption of energy 
and greenhouse gases, which contributes to ensuring the sustain-
able development of cities. (Mortensen et al., 2012; van den buu-
sea & kolk, 2018)
However, some researchers are also critical of the term smart 
cities. Namely, there are opinions that the term is used for brand-

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DIGNITAS n Sustainability and housing 
ing and marketing. t hey even believe that a city that is not sustain-
able cannot be smart either. t herefore, they recommend using a 
more precise term; for example, smart sustainable city, instead of 
the term smart city. t hey also recommend that, in addition to indi-
cators that measure output, indicators that contribute to the final 
goals, such as environmental, economic, or social sustainability, 
should also be used. (Ahvenniemi et al., 2017)
In order to ensure the implementation of the 2030 Agenda and 
to help achieve the sGDs, in particular sGD 11 (i.e., to make cities 
and communities more inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable), 
the United Nations launched the initiative United for smart sus-
tainable c ities (U4ssc ) in 2016, based on the established compat-
ibility of smart cities and sustainable cities. It is coordinated by 
the International t elecommunication Union (It U), the United Na-
tions economic c ommission for europe (UNece ), and the United 
Nations Human settlements Programme (UN-Habitat). It is a glob-
al platform for public policy advocacy, and it promotes the use of 
information and communication technologies (Ict s) to facilitate 
the transition to smart sustainable cities. (schiavo & Magalhães, 
2022)
7. Conclusion
t he topic of smart cities is increasingly relevant in today’s fast-
developing world, and the creation of smart sustainable cities is 
necessary to alleviate the problems arising from the rapid growth 
of cities and urban populations. t he new city concept—that is, a 
smart sustainable city—pays attention to people’s needs, rational 
management of resources, sustainable development, and eco-
nomic sustainability. A smart sustainable city provides efficient 
services and lower energy consumption, which should lead to a 
more efficient and economical city. (Girardi & t emporelli, 2017) 
t he reasons for the emergence of such a concept must be sought 
in 1) the rapid development of technologies and smart urban so-
lutions and 2) the context of an attempt to treat the concept of 
sustainability more comprehensively. (Huovila et al., 2019) With 
this, the world has recognized that the challenges of urban growth 
could be solved in a sustainable way, and, in this, technologies 
that help cities to become smart and sustainable at the same time 
could help. (schiavo & Magalhães, 2022) t he transformation of 

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DIGNITAS n Transforming cities into smart sustainable cities
cities and the official sustainability of the city will therefore be-
come the main paradigm of future global development to achieve 
a high quality of life in the future.
Assoc. Prof. boštjan k erbler, PhD, research adviser
New University, european Law Faculty, Department of Law 
and r eal estate Management, Ljubljana
Urban Planning Institute of the r epublic of slovenia, Ljubljana
e-mails: bostjan.kerbler@uirs.si; bostjan.kerbler@epf.nova-uni.
si
Acknowledgements
t hanks to the slovenian r esearch Agency (Arrs ) for funding 
the basic research project Health-Oriented behavior as a c reator 
of the sustainable Development of the built environment (grant 
number J7-4599).
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