Civil Engineering and Architecture Vol. 11(3), pp. 1383 - 1406
DOI: 10.13189/cea.2023.110322
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Smart Eco-cities Conceptual Framework to Achieve UN-SDGs: A Case Study Application in Egypt

Sara Tarek ^*
Department of Architecture Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Cairo University, Giza, Egypt

ABSTRACT

Smart-eco cities are not a new concept, they appear while planning for a healthy and sustainable urban future. Notions like smart cities, sustainable cities, augmented cities, and ecological cities represent new norms and standards for applying the latest new smart technologies in addition to green environmental solutions in the planning of contemporary cities. The present study addresses the problem of the lack of guidelines that help in linking different principles of urban design and indicators of smart and ecological interventions in both the early planning and upgrading stage to support cities' sustainable future. Therefore, the research aims to identify smart-eco cities dimensions and indicators to use in developing a conceptual framework for developing smart-eco cities strategies, to be applied in cities nowadays. The study merges between smart and ecological urban dimensions as novel urban approaches in addition to focusing on the characteristics, guidelines, and indicators for smart and eco-cities to attain UN 2030 sustainable development goals. The present work follows a methodology that encompasses four parts. The First part is an integrative literature review for the main concepts, definitions, and dimensions for both smart cities and eco-cities in addition to SDGs. Moreover, it reviews and analyses different initiatives for cities that followed smart and ecological approaches. The Second part is an analytical approach proposing a matrix that combines both smart and eco-cities dimensions and indicators to achieve a healthier and sustainable urban future by mapping it to UN-SDGs. Moreover, a survey was administered to highlight the most effective indicators in developing smart eco-cities strategies. The Third part proposes a conceptual framework to be used for planning smart-eco cities for better urban futures. Finally, the study applies the proposed framework on a new Egyptian city as a case study to identify the potential of applying smart-eco cities concept in developing countries and limited resources settings. Research results indicate the capabilities derived by smart-eco cities that can assist in the adaptation and achieving SDGs for developing countries.

KEYWORDS
Smart Cities, Eco-Cities, Eco-Innovations, Sustainable Development, Green Solutions, SDGs

Cite This Paper in IEEE or APA Citation Styles
(a). IEEE Format:
[1] Sara Tarek , "Smart Eco-cities Conceptual Framework to Achieve UN-SDGs: A Case Study Application in Egypt," Civil Engineering and Architecture, Vol. 11, No. 3, pp. 1383 - 1406, 2023. DOI: 10.13189/cea.2023.110322.

(b). APA Format:
Sara Tarek (2023). Smart Eco-cities Conceptual Framework to Achieve UN-SDGs: A Case Study Application in Egypt. Civil Engineering and Architecture, 11(3), 1383 - 1406. DOI: 10.13189/cea.2023.110322.