Smart Cities and Industry 4.0

Dear Colleagues,

In recent years, smart cities have become more techno-centric and focus has been placed on sustainability and citizen quality of life. Thus, the concept of smart cities has evolved to include citizens as co-creators, and Industry 4.0 has envisioned personalized supply chain models arranged according to consumers’ wishes. Both concepts strive to focus on citizens, impacting transport and manufacturing processes, enhancing social development, and promoting sustainability. While smart cities emerged before Industry 4.0, their influence on one another is intertwined. However,  a greater understanding of this influence is still lacking. Based on the vision promoted by smart cities, citizens will increasingly be empowered by policymakers, whose inclusion and participation will become highly relevant. Furthermore, there is a need to reflect on how the evolution of the smart city concept will impact the development of industry. There is lack of published studies about the influence of smart cities in Industry 4.0, and this is seen as a valuable future focus. It can be addressed from two key directions. The first concerns an improved understanding of the smart city concept and how the evolution of society and its needs, particularly around quality-of-life improvements, may lead industry to adapt and adopt new practices; the second highlights the increasing role of communities and citizens on the instant fulfilment of supply chains and how new urban logistics and manufacturing models may emerge. In summary, a discussion of how the strategies developed by policymakers together with citizens may impact the industry is necessary.

Dr. Diogo Correia
Dr. Leonor Teixeira
Dr. João Lourenço Marques
Guest Editors

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