Building tomorrow: a deep dive into the economic effects of smart city

Purpose The rise of smart cities has attracted growing attention from scholars, policymakers and industry stakeholders for their transformative potential in urban development. This study has two primary aims: (1) to provide a comprehensive understanding of the economic dimensions of smart city development by synthesizing decades of research and (2) to identify key research trends, including growth publications, productive countries, institutions, journals, most-cited articles, article co-citation networks and authors’ keywords. Design/methodology/approach This study followed the PRISMA guidelines to conduct a bibliometric and content analysis of 92 documents published in the Scopus database between 2012 and September 2023. PRISMA was selected due to its widespread use across various disciplines, including social science, business, economics, computer science, healthcare and engineering as well as for its effectiveness in enhancing transparency, rigor and credibility in systematic reviews. Additionally, Scopus was chosen for its extensive coverage of peer-reviewed literature across relevant disciplines. Findings The analysis revealed four main outcomes: (1) foundational insights for a deeper literature review of the economic impacts of marketing smart cities; (2) categorization of key themes, including smart cities, economic effects, IoT, sustainable urban development, challenges and barriers; (3) identification of economic benefits such as increased foreign investment, entrepreneurship and knowledge-based industry growth and (4) recognition of critical factors like stakeholder collaboration, technological innovation and sustainable planning in realizing these benefits. Originality/value This study is the first to conduct a comprehensive literature review on the economic implications of smart city marketing, employing a hybrid approach that integrates bibliometric and content analysis.