Advancing sustainable cities and communities with internet of things: Global insights, trends, and research priorities for SDG 11

• A global analysis of 6,334 IoT-SDG 11 studies identified key contributors and trends. • Key IoT themes include smart cities, ITSs, urbanization, and disaster management. • Ethical, social, and environmental factors are crucial for sustainable IoT adoption. • IoT challenges include data security, interoperability, and infrastructure gaps. • Future IoT-SDG 11 success relies on Green IoT, 5G, AI, and stakeholder collaboration. The quest for sustainable development is confronted with many challenges. Technological innovation, especially the Internet of Things (IoT), has come up as a key enabler in reaching sustainability. This research analyzes research landscapes on IoT supporting Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 11. A targeted search combining SDG 11 with IoT-related terminology was conducted via the Scopus database, covering publications from 2010 to 2024. VOSviewer software was employed to map collaborative networks, co-citation patterns, and key themes. Furthermore, the SciMAT software was employed was employed to analyze themes' evolution and intellectual structures, hence showing emerging trends and assessing thematic consistency over time. A thorough analysis of 6,334 publications revealed the top contributors as China (1,356; 21.4 %), India (1,301; 20.5 %), the United States (736; 11.6 %), and Saudi Arabia (569; 9.0 %). Developing nations in Asia and the Middle East made significant contributions to IoT-SDG 11 research, driven by urbanization challenges. Key research themes include intelligent transportation systems (ITSs), cyber-physical systems, smart buildings, and urbanization. Specialized subjects explore the use of IoT-enabled drones for augmenting SDG 11 goals, particularly in disaster management. Findings emphasize the need to design green IoT models and close technology gaps. Harnessing the potential of IoT requires the incorporation of ethical, social, and environmental factors into its design for guaranteeing convergence with sustainability goals. Data security issues, market fragmentation, and lack of infrastructure, though, necessitate regulatory intervention and investment. Additionally, citizen engagement and the evolution of 5G, artificial intelligence (AI), and edge computing will further enhance IoT's role in sustainability.