Analysis of the Impact of Smart Sustainable Cities on Social Well-Being

To a proper urban life, we must consider the city as more than just a location where people live. The built environment of the city includes things like roadways, shopping malls, and service facilities.

To produce sustainable living, the researcher [1] discussed smart city development goes beyond the simple application of intelligent technologies. Instead, it calls for the efficient integration of social landscapes, the built environment, and human well-being. Although it is believed to be the critical factor for sustainability, few studies have addressed happiness, a marker for people’s quality of life, as a feature of smart urban planning. In this paper, the connections between smart cities and urban happiness are clearer. The results show that a series of regional (such as housing and population density) and global (e.g., the North-South divide) challenges would obstruct the preservation of happiness from the incorporation of green areas, air pollution control, and recycling services into smart, geographically dispersed cities. Faced with a challenge of fulfilling the aspirations of sustainable development strategies by helping to fulfill the actual needs of cities, urban planners and governments must develop the global perspective but consider the local and cultural conditions [1].

In the article of Yu et al. [2], stress, convenience, and life satisfaction (LS) were taken into consideration when the research built a thorough model to investigate the mechanism underlying how people's perceived smart city advancements affected their emotional well-being. The study used a structural equation model (SEM) analysis to validate the conceptual model on a sample of 428 urban dwellers in a Chinese smart city. The findings show that: (1) Perceived smart public service (PSPS) can raise EWB by lowering stress; additionally, it can raise EWB through the mechanism of enhanced learning from experience (LS) as a result of this lowered stress. Perceived smart infrastructure (PSI) can lower EWB by decreasing LS, which is caused by higher stress, or it can lower EWB by raising stress levels. (2) By boosting convenience and consequently enhancing LS, perceived smart public administration (PSPA), perceived smart public safety (PSPS), perceived smart environmental protection (PSEP), and PSI can all improve LS and bolster EWB. (3) This work offers suggestions for government policy-making in the building of smart cities and advances interdisciplinary research on citizens' perspectives of smart city development.

In the work by Geropanta et al. [3], the ambiguous nature of smart city projects has become evident in the last series of debates about the possibility of modern urban regions to solve global problems. This is especially significant in reference to the criteria defined by the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which emphasize enhancing quality of life for all its citizens. In practice, well-being seems to be a segmented aspect of smart city initiatives across the globe; this chapter seeks to address this question through an analysis of the effects of this type of spatial planning tactics. The authors highlight the goals and merits of urban technology in public spaces by examining three European cities - Copenhagen, Vienna, and Barcelona - to highlight the current state of spatial planning and illustrate the effect of participatory approaches on the well-being of citizens. Combining a smart and sustainable city approach develops effective urban strategies that reveal several valuable insights that can promote well-being holistically.

This study by da Silva et al. [4] aims to examine the relationship between urban resilience and the state of the economy, society, and environment in smart cities in São Paulo (SP), especially in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis.

This study's objectives might be classified as descriptive. The research is documental in terms of data collecting and bibliographic from the perspective of technical techniques. This study has a quantitative approach because the statistical method is employed. Sixty-two of SP's smart cities comprised the sample. The study's time frame was from 2010 to 2015.

In the study conducted by Belli et al. [5], the proliferation of IoT technology is creating new opportunities, with one of the most well-known uses being in connection with the dynamic smart city concept. It can be broadly characterized as the incorporation of ICT and the Internet of Things into city administration, to address the population and urbanization's exponential expansion and improve people's quality of life. Aspects of sustainability are also strongly associated with the smart city model; these include minimizing the environmental impact of urban activities, managing energy resources optimally, and creating cutting-edge services and solutions for inhabitants. Due to major investments made by stakeholders and the European Commission, several cities have committed to this new paradigm and initiated a process of strong innovation in various areas (e.g., mobility, transit, industry, health, tourism, and education). This article analyzes the key components of IoT infrastructure for smart cities, using Parma, Italy's Emilia-Romagna area, as a successful case study for the innovations put into place. One area that receives special emphasis is smart urban mobility.

From the literature review, we can identify multiple research gaps:

1. The need to comprehend how to build a sustainable smart city and what indicators have an impact on social well-being?

2. Smart cities were only partially and incompletely covered in earlier research, including happiness and satisfaction, and some studies even connected the state of smart cities to sustainable development objectives.

3. This research discusses the issue of cities that have not reached the stage of achieving the principles of sustainable smart cities, which is extremely important to identify the obstacles and capabilities that encourage or hinder access to the smart city, which therefore has a significant impact on the life and well-being of society.

4. There is no previous study that discusses indicators of sustainable smart cities in an Iraqi city and compares them to the ideal state of the future (see Figure 1).

Figure 1. Flowchart of article design

The triple bottom line (TBL) concept is an important framework for assessing and integrating sustainability. Three related dimensions can be mentioned, including the economic dimension, which includes aspects related to economic dimensions such as achieving economic efficiency through job creation, efficient use of resources, stimulating the digital economy, etc.; the social dimension, such as justice, social welfare, and achieving a good quality of life; and the environmental dimension, which reflects the rational use of resources and the reduction of pollution in smart cities through the adoption of green technologies.

This concept enables an integrated assessment of urban performance and represents a key tool for measuring the extent to which smart cities contribute to achieving sustainable development and true social well-being [6, 7].

Sustainable Smart cities are defined as cities and towns that use data and technology to improve sustainability, efficiency, and the general quality of life for their citizens. These cities use information and communication technology to automate procedures, enhance decision-making, and gather and analyze data [8].

Arab cities in general, and Iraqi cities in particular, face great challenges as a result of several factors that the research attempts to study and identify the most important obstacles and possibilities that encourage or hinder the adoption of smart city principles [9]. The effects of the pandemic have clearly shown that most cities around the world, including Arab cities through a lack of adaptability and frighteningly high-risk exposure, particularly in the context of the labor market [10, 11], financial and business arrangements, and economic governance—all of which are intricately linked. through a lack of adaptability and frighteningly high-risk exposure, particularly in the context of the labor market, financial and business arrangements, and economic governance- all of which are intricately linked. The use of smart digital solutions is not limited to cities that have begun to be smart and sustainable. Rather, the process of transforming into cities can benefit any city, although the degree of their application varies from one city to another depending on the economic and financial capabilities of the country in question and the extent of its technological readiness.

While no fully integrated urban systems and services are a reality yet, many cities are moving towards being environmentally sustainable and smart. Using information and communication technologies (ICTs) to increase energy efficiency, optimize waste management, enhance housing and healthcare, improve traffic flow and safety, monitor air quality, notify law enforcement of street crimes, and refine water and sanitation systems, these cities are making great strides. Smart and sustainable cities further encourage the use of cycling and walking as transport modes. Key indicators that represent the success of different smart sustainable cities are featured in the research.

When talking about smart sustainable cities, we talk about the city of Oslo, which has made rapid strides in its urban trends. In that context, one of the most important indicators that can be talked about in Humanitarian cities: Streets Suitable for Pedestrians, Environmental monitoring: Air and traffic data quality monitoring, Sustainability Culture: making environmentally friendly decisions, Sustainable Transportation. Singapore: One of the most prominent things that the city of Singapore has worked on Waste management system, Remote sensing devices are used to monitor the performance of waste containers, resulting in significant positive impacts such as pollution reduction and energy efficiency. in Canada, Vancouver, Green Areas: maintaining vegetation and natural beauty even in the middle of a busy city. Green Building: Vancouver is known for its strict enforcement of green building regulations. By 2030, it wants all new construction to be carbon-neutral to ensure that the city's skyline reflects its commitment to sustainability. Smart energy, one example that can be mentioned regarding Arab cities is the city of Dubai which focused on achieving good governance concerning resource management. electronic complaints system for citizens to regularly provide their opinions about public services Converting government services to electronic. clean energy: Generating clean electrical energy using solar panel technology installed on the roofs of buildings, environmentally friendly sustainable buildings, and Smart Transportation, the implementation of smart building management systems can, in part, improve the efficiency of building's energy. On the other hand, these smart buildings can lessen waste and the consequent release of offensive odors that are harmful to the environment and the health of occupants. It is projected that the globe will save 20% of water and 22% of energy when it comes to water use, not to mention expenditures, by making the best use of water and striving for increased operational efficiency and resident satisfaction, whether living within or adjacent to structures or Building Upkeep. In the context of the Middle East, in Cairo and Riyadh, several studies were addressed that work on integrating the urban planning process with digital infrastructure and the impact of governance on the adoption of smart and sustainable city principles to improve societal well-being. In the study of urban quality of life, key contributions include Veenhoven [12], who introduced urban happiness as a measure of societal well-being, and the Florida study, which connected the innovation economy with livability to explore how smart city indicators relate to social well-being [13]. These studies confirm that smart city initiatives are not limited only to technological efficiency, but also to social satisfaction and local values of society [14, 15].

We can derive Final indicators for both sustainable smart cities and social well-being in Table 1.

Table 1. Final indicators of sustainable smart cities & social well-being

By using the success factor matrix, we can get the conclusion that each of the elements listed below contributes significantly to the success of the government's most crucial operations and aspects) Adopting renewable energy - Implementing intelligent infrastructure - Adequate financial allocations-  Work experience in systems and information technology.

5.2 Analyzing and measuring the performance gap

In planning studies and sustainability issues, the concept of the performance gap is used, which is derived from strategic management and performance evaluation to measure the current situation with the assumed. It is a measuring tool between realistic performance indicators and ideal standards for sustainable smart cities. As for the concept of success factors, the cognitive roots of the concept of success factors appear in the literature of urban governance and strategic management.

The success factors for transforming the city of Baghdad into a smart, sustainable city will be determined according to the priority extracted from the matrix of success factors related to planning aspects.

An optimal state is defined as a state which matches the prerequisites and aspirations that the city has of the future for developing towards a smart and sustainable urban environment when the present success factors are compared with the ideal scenario. The formula gives an idea of each gap for each component by taking the difference from its current state value to the value of its ideal state, multiplying this by its level of significance and dividing the outcome by ten as follows.

Baghdad $=\frac{\sum_{i=1}^n\left(\text { Ideal}_i-\text { Actua }_i\right) \times \text { Weight}_i}{10}$                      (1)

The best case (Ideal) in the above equation for the success factors is the evaluation scores resulting from the intersection between the success factors and processes in the success factors matrix for the most important processes represented by the government dimension. That is, the scores for the row that represents the priority for the processes are the best for the success factors.

$Baghdad=\frac{\left( 4-1 \right)*4+\left( 2-1 \right)*3+\left( 2-2 \right)*3+\left( 3-3 \right)*2}{10}=1.5$                          (2)