Appraisal of smartization of major cities in South Africa

Abstract

The growing nature of cities through globalization and advancement in technology have necessitated for the transformation of infrastructures and other elements of the cities in the quest of meeting up with the sustainable development goals. This is known as smartization process, which implies that cities should be designed and modernized focusing on the social, environmental and financial benefits to the current and future citizens. Using the basis of smartization process, smart city initiates as well as cities in motion index (CIMI), this study examines the characteristics and global ranking of major cities in South Africa within a 3 years period. It could be observed that there has been a decline in average ranking of the selected cities by about 4.26% which is a concern not only for agencies of government responsible for city planning and development but also construction stakeholders that are involved in the design, development and management of cities and their infrastructures.