Smart Cities Powered by Blockchain: Building the Foundation

Smart cities are a developing concept that has gotten a lot of of attention in recent years.Integrating advanced technologies into urban environments has resulted in many solutions that aim to improve the quality of life for citizens.One of these technologies is blockchain.It was initially introduced through cryptocurrencies, with the most well known blockchains being Bitcoin and Ethereum.The use of blockchain within smart cities introduces new possibilities, by enabling the creation of solutions for secure, transparent, auditable and efficient urban management.In this paper, we provide a brief overview of blockchain's and smart cities' strengths and some open challenges that have not yet been addressed.Finally, we present the most popular applications of blockchain in smart cities, which allows us to see the advantages which come from the combination of the two, as well as to evaluate blockchain's potential in creating more sustainable and connected urban environments.