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Contributions of Smart City Solutions and Technologies to Resilience against the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Literature Review

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  • Ayyoob Sharifi

    (Graduate School of Humanities and Social Sciences & Network for Education and Research on Peace and Sustainability (NERPS), Hiroshima University, Higashi-Hiroshima, Hiroshima 739-8511, Japan
    Graduate School of Advanced Science and Engineering, Hiroshima University, Higashi-Hiroshima, Hiroshima 739-8511, Japan)

  • Amir Reza Khavarian-Garmsir

    (Faculty of Geographical Sciences and Planning, University of Isfahan, Isfahan 8174673441, Iran)

  • Rama Krishna Reddy Kummitha

    (Newcastle Business School, Northumbria University, Newcastle Tyne NE1 8ST, UK)

Abstract

Since its emergence in late 2019, the COVID-19 pandemic has swept through many cities around the world, claiming millions of lives and causing major socio-economic impacts. The pandemic occurred at an important historical juncture when smart solutions and technologies have become ubiquitous in many cities. Against this background, in this review, we examine how smart city solutions and technologies have contributed to resilience by enhancing planning, absorption, recovery, and adaptation abilities. For this purpose, we reviewed 147 studies that have discussed issues related to the use of smart solutions and technologies during the pandemic. The results were synthesized under four themes, namely, planning and preparation, absorption, recovery, and adaptation. This review shows that investment in smart city initiatives can enhance the planning and preparation ability. In addition, the adoption of smart solutions and technologies can, among other things, enhance the capacity of cities to predict pandemic patterns, facilitate an integrated and timely response, minimize or postpone transmission of the virus, provide support to overstretched sectors, minimize supply chain disruption, ensure continuity of basic services, and offer solutions for optimizing city operations. These are promising results that demonstrate the utility of smart solutions for enhancing resilience. However, it should be noted that realizing this potential hinges on careful attention to important issues and challenges related to privacy and security, access to open-source data, technological affordance, legal barriers, technological feasibility, and citizen engagement. Despite this, this review shows that further development of smart city initiatives can provide unprecedented opportunities for enhancing resilience to the pandemic and similar future events.

Suggested Citation

  • Ayyoob Sharifi & Amir Reza Khavarian-Garmsir & Rama Krishna Reddy Kummitha, 2021. "Contributions of Smart City Solutions and Technologies to Resilience against the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Literature Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(14), pages 1-28, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:14:p:8018-:d:596593
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    Cited by:

    1. Torabi, Zabih-Allah & Rezvani, Mohammad Reza & Hall, C. Michael & Allam, Zaheer, 2023. "On the post-pandemic travel boom: How capacity building and smart tourism technologies in rural areas can help - evidence from Iran," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 193(C).
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    3. Amir Reza Khavarian-Garmsir & Ayyoob Sharifi & Mohammad Hajian Hossein Abadi & Zahra Moradi, 2023. "From Garden City to 15-Minute City: A Historical Perspective and Critical Assessment," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(2), pages 1-15, February.
    4. BADEA Dorel & RANF Diana Elena, 2023. "Challenges Of Post-Pandemic Urban Resilience Management," Studies in Business and Economics, Lucian Blaga University of Sibiu, Faculty of Economic Sciences, vol. 18(1), pages 37-53, April.
    5. Li, Rui & Lu, Yi, 2025. "Toward a resilient and smart city: Analysis on enablers for smart city resilience using an integrated DEMATEL–ISM–ANP method," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 215(C).
    6. Alireza Dehghani & Mehdi Alidadi & Ayyoob Sharifi, 2022. "Compact Development Policy and Urban Resilience: A Critical Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(19), pages 1-19, September.
    7. Mahnoosh Hassankhani & Mehdi Alidadi & Ayyoob Sharifi & Abolghasem Azhdari, 2021. "Smart City and Crisis Management: Lessons for the COVID-19 Pandemic," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(15), pages 1-18, July.
    8. Wadim Strielkowski & Svetlana Zenchenko & Anna Tarasova & Yana Radyukova, 2022. "Management of Smart and Sustainable Cities in the Post-COVID-19 Era: Lessons and Implications," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(12), pages 1-17, June.
    9. repec:zib:zbesmy:v:5:y:2024:i:1:p:18-23 is not listed on IDEAS
    10. Sarbeswar Praharaj & Patricia Solis & Elizabeth A Wentz, 2023. "Deploying geospatial visualization dashboards to combat the socioeconomic impacts of COVID-19," Environment and Planning B, , vol. 50(5), pages 1262-1279, June.
    11. Ayyoob Sharifi & Zaheer Allam, 2022. "On the taxonomy of smart city indicators and their alignment with sustainability and resilience," Environment and Planning B, , vol. 49(5), pages 1536-1555, June.
    12. Marchesani, Filippo & Masciarelli, Francesca & Bikfalvi, Andrea, 2023. "Smart city as a hub for talent and innovative companies: Exploring the (dis) advantages of digital technology implementation in cities," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 193(C).
    13. Soumya Balakrishnan & Suzanne Elayan & Martin Sykora & Marin Solter & Rob Feick & Christopher Hewitt & Yi Qiao Liu & Ketan Shankardass, 2023. "Sustainable Smart Cities—Social Media Platforms and Their Role in Community Neighborhood Resilience—A Systematic Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(18), pages 1-22, September.
    14. Feng Wu & Wanqiang Xu & Chaoran Lin & Yanwei Zhang, 2022. "Knowledge Trajectories on Public Crisis Management Research from Massive Literature Text Using Topic-Clustered Evolution Extraction," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 10(12), pages 1-18, June.
    15. Przemysław Śleszyński & Paulina Legutko-Kobus & Mark Rosenberg & Viktoriya Pantyley & Maciej J. Nowak, 2022. "Assessing Urban Policies in a COVID-19 World," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(9), pages 1-19, April.
    16. Hadi Alizadeh & Ayyoob Sharifi & Safiyeh Damanbagh & Hadi Nazarnia & Mohammad Nazarnia, 2023. "Impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the social sphere and lessons for crisis management: a literature review," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 117(3), pages 2139-2164, July.
    17. Walter Leal Filho & Amanda Lange Salvia & Ismaila Rimi Abubakar & Mark Mifsud & Hossein Azadi & Ayyoob Sharifi & Todd LeVasseur & Johannes M. Luetz & Luis Velazquez & Priyatma Singh & Rudi Pretorius &, 2022. "Impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Routines of Higher Education Institutions: A Global Perspective," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(21), pages 1-19, October.
    18. Alicja Fandrejewska & Witold Chmielarz & Marek Zborowski, 2022. "The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Perception of Globalization and Consumer Behavior," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(15), pages 1-14, August.
    19. Maciej J. Nowak & Krzysztof Simon, 2022. "Kierunki polityki przestrzennej miast w Polsce a pandemia SARS-CoV-2. Perspektywa medyczna i przestrzenna," Studia z Polityki Publicznej / Public Policy Studies, Warsaw School of Economics, vol. 9(4), pages 1-17.
    20. Schade Katrin & Müller Andre & Holdack Eric & Hübscher Marcus & Lurie Katja & Schulze Juana, 2021. "Digitalization and City Center Resilience. Exploring Visitors’ Perceptions in Leipzig, Germany," ZFW – Advances in Economic Geography, De Gruyter, vol. 65(3-4), pages 132-146, December.

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