The role and contribution of SRI-Smart Buildings to Smart Cities

The increasing population, coupled with the movement towards cities and dense urban areas, presents numerous challenges to cities. This study investigates the role and contribution of the Smart Readiness Indicator (SRI) in the context of smart buildings and smart cities and examines how the SRI can facilitate the future success of smart cities. We developed a framework by integrating the SRI with a well-known smart city model and collected data with content analysis and expert interviews. The framework evaluates the relationship between SRI and the smart city model with six dimensions: smart economy, smart mobility, smart people, smart governance, smart environment, and smart living. Our findings indicate that a building-level SRI clearly and directly impacts smart city performance with the highest impact on the smart economy. It also substantially affects smart mobility, environment, and living. However, its influence on smart governance is lower, and no link was found with smart people according to our framework. In conclusion, the development and success of smart cities heavily depend on integrating smart building frameworks and indicators that measure and enhance urban functionalities. This study suggests that the SRI framework should be broadened to encompass the "smart people" dimension, also enhancing its focus on accessibility.