Identification and prioritization of entrepreneurial opportunities in hamadan smart urban transportation using a mixed-methods approach and the fuzzy VIKOR method

Sohrabi, Ruhollah; Ghasemi Nafe, Mohammad Mahdi; Rahbar, Amirhossein; Roshani, Ahura; Rezaeirad, Hadi

doi:10.22034/uep.2026.566115.1806

Identification and prioritization of entrepreneurial opportunities in hamadan smart urban transportation using a mixed-methods approach and the fuzzy VIKOR method

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

Ruhollah Sohrabi ¹

Mohammad Mahdi Ghasemi Nafe ²

Amirhossein Rahbar ³

Ahura Roshani ⁴

Hadi Rezaeirad ⁵

¹ Associate professor, Department of Management, Faculty of Economic and Social Sciences, Bu-Ali Sina University, Hamedan, Iran

² M.B.A. graduate in Strategic Management, Faculty of Economic and Social Sciences, Bu-Ali Sina University, Hamedan, Iran

³ Assistant professor, Department of Management, Faculty of Management and Accounting, Bu-Ali Sina University, Hamedan, Iran

⁴ Master’s student in Business Management (Strategy), Faculty of Economic and Social Sciences, Bu-Ali Sina University, Hamadan, Iran

⁵ Assistant professor, Faculty of Art and Architecture, Bu-Ali Sina University, Hamedan, Iran

10.22034/uep.2026.566115.1806

Abstract

Rapid urbanization has exposed cities like Hamedan to persistent transportation challenges, including structural weaknesses in public transport fleets and severe traffic congestion. The smart city approach, through technology driven solutions, offers the potential to transform these challenges into entrepreneurial investment opportunities. However, growing uncertainty in identifying priority opportunities increases the risk of inefficient allocation of financial and managerial resources. Therefore, systematic prioritization of these opportunities is essential for effective investment decisions. This study identifies and prioritizes entrepreneurial opportunities in Hamedan’s smart urban transportation using a mixed method approach. In the qualitative phase, a systematic review of smart city documents and reports identified six final opportunities in the form of products or services. In the quantitative phase, 16 experts from academia, the municipality, the city council, and smart city practitioners evaluated the opportunities and weighted the criteria using pairwise comparisons. Criteria weights were calculated using the fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (FAHP), and the opportunities were ranked using the Fuzzy VIKOR method. The consistency ratio (0.02) confirmed the reliability of the judgments. The results showed that “availability of technological infrastructure” (0.165), “market demand” (0.158), and “market growth potential” (0.135) were the most important criteria. The final ranking indicated that the priorities were “traffic management” (VIKOR index 0.0206) and “smart buses and taxis” (VIKOR index 0.0322), and the last priority was “electric vehicle charging stations” (VIKOR index 0.1752). These findings indicated that opportunities aligned with existing infrastructure and market demand have a higher investment priority. This research provides a decision-making roadmap for entrepreneurs and urban management by transforming urban issues into prioritized opportunities.

Keywords

Entrepreneurial opportunities

Fuzzy VIKOR

smart city

smart‌ transportation

urban entrepreneurship

Subjects

Urban Economy

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