*2.2. Sustainable Smart Cities*

The imperative to grow cities of the future more sustainably is a global policy agenda, and the dedicated UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 11 seeks to "make cities and human settlements more inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable." The United Nations' member states enacted the New Urban Agenda (NUA) in 2016, which requires national governments to work with regional and local governments to formulate urban plans in accordance with the International Guidelines on Urban and Territorial Planning [67]. These guidelines seek to standardise city growth processes and establish normatively 'good' practices. Urban and environmental planning instruments are, therefore, in the spotlight for their potential to contribute to greater levels of biodiversity conservation, protection of waterways, and reduction in climate change risks within and beyond the urban footprint.

The investment case for sustainable cities and its associated infrastructure and human settlements have also recently been assessed. A new report by the Coalition for Urban Transitions, titled 'Climate Emergency, Urban Opportunity' [68] is one of the most comprehensive assessments on the investment case for sustainable cities. The findings of the report, representing the views of 50 leading organisations (such as the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group and the World Resources Institute), show that 90% of carbon emissions from cities can be cut by using existing technologies. This would require an investment of 2% of the global GDP (or 1.8 trillion USD) per annum. An expected return of 23.9 trillion USD by 2050 could be achieved and support the creation of 87 million jobs by 2030 in sectors such as waste, energy, and transport.

The transition towards sustainable cities is being enabled by the rapid evolution of 'smart city' technologies such as the Internet of Things (IoT), ecological infrastructure, and alternative energy [69–72]. There is a temptation to think that technology is a panacea for solving wicked problems, and scholars have critiqued the ontological roots of the smart city movement from critical science and technology studies (STS) and broader humanities, arts and social sciences (HASS) disciplines [1,73–78].

Green building rating tools (GBRT) are influential in shifting the urban development industry towards more sustainable outcomes [79,80], and could potentially incorporate calls for net-positive outcomes [81] and more-than-human design [31].
