Investigation of Smart Sustainable City Indicators of Sustainable Development—A Case Study of the City of Suwon

Abstract

This paper aims to investigate the interlink between city sustainability development indicators and smart sustainable city indicators (SSCIs). While the sustainability development indicators of a city mostly rely on its sustainable development goals (SDGs), no investigations into whether these indicators imply SSCIs have been conducted. SSCIs are critical during the current unprecedented climate crisis and are necessary to facilitate a livable future. This study considers the city of Suwon as a case study. Suwon’s sustainable development policy adopts 10 SDGs among the 17 SDGs from the United Nations, later called Suwon SDGs (SSDGs). By conducting a content analysis, this study found that the indicators adopted from the SDGs require further investigation to evaluate the core SSCIs. Using text analytics, we found that Suwon’s policies focus on indicators in the local environment, such as the employment rates for every age category, even if the SSDG indicators incorporate the SDGs. The purpose of this analysis is to gain more attention from policymakers about the necessity of reconstructing and considering SSCIs as a part of a smart city’s sustainable development. Lessons and practical implications are discussed for future studies.