Urban Economics and Planning

Urban Economics and Planning

Presenting Technological Models for Developing a Smart City in Tehran Using the Dimatel Technique

Document Type : Original Article

Authors
Elham Dayani 1
Vahid Shahabi 2
1 Master student in Industrial Management, Islamic Azad University, Science and Research Branch, Tehran, Iran
2 Affiliated faculty member, Faculty of Management, Islamic Azad University, Science and Research Branch, Tehran, Iran
10.22034/uep.2025.492550.1569
Abstract
Introduction 
In today’s world, the increase in the population of cities and the complexity of urban management have brought many challenges to urban communities. Responding to these challenges and improving the quality of life of citizens are the main goals of city management institutions. In this regard, the development of smart cities has been proposed as a new and effective solution and has attracted a lot of attention. The development of a smart city as a multidimensional and challenging phenomenon is of great importance in social, economic, and environmental dimensions. On the other hand, given the increase in urban population and the growth of urbanization, the need for smart and optimal management of urban resources and services is of great importance. This research aims to provide a model of technological criteria for the development of a smart city, emphasizing technological dimensions and focusing on the city of Tehran.
Materials and Methods
To achieve this goal, first, information was collected through library studies and articles on the World Wide Web, then field research, i.e., compiling a questionnaire, will be used to describe the viewpoint of the research community. In this study, three questionnaires were used. The first questionnaire was the Fuzzy Delphi method, which was used to determine the main dimensions and criteria of a smart city. In this regard, seven main dimensions including smart people, smart environment, smart economy, smart life, smart transportation, technology and infrastructure, and smart governance and management were identified and examined. Initially, the Fuzzy Delphi technique was used to screen the criteria and identify the basic criteria. Then, the second questionnaire was used to determine the intensity and direction of the relationships between the criteria using the DEMET method, and the influential and influential criteria were identified. Finally, with the third questionnaire, the best-worst method, the weights of the criteria and sub-criteria were calculated, an, including smart people, smart environment, smart economy, smart life, smart transportation, technology and infrastructure, and smart governance and management,d the final prioritization was presented.
Findings
The results of this study showed that the criteria of smart governance and management, smart technology and infrastructure, and smart economy are recognized as the most important influential criteria in the development of a smart city in Tehran, while the criterion of smart life has the most influence. Therefore, the criteria of smart governance and management with rank 1, smart technology and infrastructure with rank 2, and smart economy with rank 3 are recognized as the most critical influential criteria in the development of a smart city in Tehran, while the criterion of smart life with rank seven and smart environment with rank 6 has the most influence. Information and communication technology infrastructure in Tehran needs further improvements in order to become a widespread smart network.
The findings of this study show that the development of a smart city in Tehran, with regard to the indicators of smart governance, information and communication technology infrastructure, smart economy, and quality of life, can be largely close to successful models in other countries. By examining similar indicators in leading cities such as Singapore, Seoul, and Helsinki, Tehran’s strengths and weaknesses can be assessed.
Conclusion
The present study shows that compared to other smart cities in the world, Tehran requires very high investment in various areas, including smart governance, technology infrastructure, smart economy, and quality of life. Based on the findings of this study, given the potential capacities in Tehran, it is possible to use the successful experiences of other cities in developing a smart city and implement similar programs for Tehran.
According to the findings of the study, technological infrastructure in Tehran is still in the early stages of development, and the use of advanced technologies such as IoT has not yet been widely implemented in the city. Therefore, increasing investment in this area can help increase urban efficiency and reduce environmental problems.
Keywords
Smart City
Smart Management
Technological Criteria
Tehran City

Subjects

Afzali, Modiri, & Farhoudi. (2019). Prioritizing indicators in the smart city process (Case study: Kerman city). Quarterly Journal of Urban Research and Planning 30 9(35), 21- . https://journals.marvdasht.iau.ir/article_3276.html [In Persian]
Attaran, H.; Kheibari, N.; Bahrepour, D. Toward integrated smart city: A new model for implementation and design challenges. GeoJournal 2022, 87, 511–526 
Deveci, M., Pekaslan, D., & Canıtez, F. (2020). The assessment of smart city projects using zSlice type-2 fuzzy sets based Interval Agreement Method. Sustainable Cities and Society, 53(October 2019). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scs.2019.101889
Feizi, A., Joo, S., Kwigizile, V., & Oh, J. S. (2020). A pervasive framework toward sustainability and smart-growth: Assessing multifaceted transportation performance measures for smart cities. In Journal of Transport and Health (Vol. 19). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jth.2020.100956
Hajduk, S. (2021). Multi-criteria analysis of smart cities on the example of the Polish cities. Resources, 10(5). https://doi.org/10.3390/resources10050044 22
Hajduk, S., & Jelonek, D. (2021). A decision-making approach based on topsis method for ranking smart cities in the context of urban energy. In Energies (Vol. 14, Issue 9). https://doi.org/10.3390/en14092691
Hassani, Zahra and Ahmadi, Fereshteh, 2019, Explanation of smart city criteria and indicators in new cities with emphasis on smart living, National Conference on Civil Engineering, Architecture and Information Technology in Urban Life, Mashhad https://civilica.com/doc/1134705 [In Persian]
Koca, G., Egilmez, O., & Akcakaya, O. (2021). Evaluation of the smart city: Applying the dematel technique. Telematics and Informatics, 62(April), 101625. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tele.2021.101625
Manupati, V. K., Ramkumar, M., & Samanta, D. (2018). A multi-criteria decision making approach for the urban renewal in Southern India. Sustainable Cities and Society, 42, 471–481. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scs.2018.08.011
Milošević, M. R., Milošević, D. M., Stević, D. M., & Stanojević, A. D. (2019). Smart city: Modeling key indicators in Serbia using IT2FS. Sustainability (Switzerland), 11(13). https://doi.org/10.3390/su11133536
Molaei. (2021). Explaining the principles and strategies of a smart city with a sustainability approach in the field of crisis management (case study; Tehran metropolis). Quarterly Journal of Disaster Prevention and Management Knowledge, 11(3), 255-273.‎ https://dpmk.ir/article-1-417-fa.html [In Persian]
Ozkaya, G., & Erdin, C. (2020). Smart and sustainable cities are evaluated through a hybrid MCDM approach based on ANP and TOPSIS technique. Heliyon, 6(10), e05052. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2020.e05052 
Parasol, 2016 Parasol M. The impact of China’s 2016 cyber security law on foreign technology firms and China’s big data and smart city dreams Comput. Law Secur. Rev., 34 (1) (2016), pp. 67-98
Population Division, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, United Nations. 2018 United Nations Report. Available online: https://www.un.org/en/desa/around-25-billion-more-people-will-be-living-cities-2050-projects-new-un-report (accessed on 10 March 2021).
Rezaei, J. (2015). Best-worst multi-criteria decision-making method. Omega (United Kingdom), 53, 49–57. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.omega.2014.11.009134–154. https://doi.org/10.3390/smartcities1010008
Ritchie, H.; Roser, M. Urbanization. Our World in Data. 2018. Available online: https://ourworldindata.org/urbanization (accessed on 10 March 2021).
Shruti, S., Singh, P. K., & Ohri, A. (2021). Evaluating the environmental sustainability of smart cities in India: The design and application of the Indian smart city environmental sustainability index. In Sustainability (Switzerland) (Vol. 13, Issue 1, pp. 1–19). https://doi.org/10.3390/su13010327 
Taghvaei, Masoud and Shafiei, Marjan, 2023, An analysis of the indicators affecting the realization of smart development in urban areas (Case study: Isfahan city) https://civilica.com/doc/1855069 [In Persian]
United Nations. Agenda 2030: The Sustainable Development Goals. 2016. Available online: https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/development-agenda/ (accessed on 10 March 2021).
Wu, W.-W. (2008). Choosing knowledge management strategies by using a combined ANP and DEMATEL approach (p. 8). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eswa.2007.07.025
Ye, F., Chen, Y., Li, L., Li, Y., & Yin, Y. (2022). Multi-criteria decision-making models for smart city ranking: Evidence from the Pearl River Delta region, China. Cities, 128(June), 103793. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cities.2022.103793 84
Yi, P., Li, W., & Li, L. (2018). Evaluation and prediction of city sustainability using MCDM and stochastic simulation methods. Sustainability (Switzerland), 10(10). https://doi.org/10.3390/su10103771 85
Zapolskytė, S., Burinskienė, M., & Trépanier, M. (2020). Evaluation criteria of smart city mobility system using MCDM method. Baltic Journal of Road and Bridge Engineering, 15(4), 196–224. https://doi.org/10.7250/bjrbe.2020-15.501
Zhu, S., Li, D., & Feng, H. (2019). Is smart city resilient? Evidence from China. Sustainable Cities and Society, 50(March), 101636. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scs.2019.101636
Urban Economics and Planning
Volume 5, Issue 4
Winter 2025
Pages 186-199

  • Receive Date 21 December 2024
  • Revise Date 03 February 2025
  • Accept Date 11 February 2025