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Strategic Intelligence: Smart Cities

Publisher GlobalData
Published Sep 04, 2025
Length 59 Pages
SKU # GBDT20413250

Description

Strategic Intelligence: Smart Cities

Summary

By 2050, nearly 70% of the world’s population will live in cities, compared to about 50% today. Increased urbanization and the challenges created by a changing climate are causing growing infrastructure headaches for cities, which will only worsen. These challenges are driving the growing development of smart cities. This market will be worth $417.0 billion in 2028, according to GlobalData forecasts, up from $204.8 billion in 2023 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 15.3%.

Key Highlights
  • Smart cities are spreading across the globe. The plethora of Chinese tech-led, surveillance-driven cities has been joined by a new breed of renewable energy-focused cities, notably in the Middle East. They include Neom in Saudi Arabia, a project designed to reduce the country’s dependence on oil, diversify its economy, and develop public service sectors. Neom, like most smart cities, will adopt technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), digital twins, and 5G to run urban operations. Digital twins, particularly, are behind the successful operation of many cities, including London, New York, and Paris.
  • The pandemic disrupted cities’ natural rhythms, such as the morning-evening commute, and that rhythm has yet to reset completely. The pandemic exposed weaknesses in urban health infrastructures, but cities have learned from the experience and are trying to become more resilient. That resilience will be tested by future health catastrophes and the climate crisis, which has increased the risk of natural disasters like floods. Such risks drive cities' adoption of weather monitoring systems and resilience planning tools. Cities are also creating healthier urban living environments, with low-emission zone (LEZ) schemes and more rigorous air quality monitoring.
Scope
  • This report provides an overview of the smart cities theme.
  • It identifies the key trends impacting growth of the theme over the next 12 to 24 months, split into three categories: technology trends, macroeconomic trends, and regulatory trends.
  • It includes comprehensive industry analysis, including forecasts for global smart cities spending to 2028.
  • The detailed value chain illustrates how smart cities fit into the IoT technology stack. The report covers three layers of the smart cities value chain: the platform layer, the app layer, and the services layer.
Reasons to Buy
  • Smart cities is an important market that attracts substantial investment. This report is a clear and insightful overview of this increasingly important theme, telling you everything you need to know about what makes a city smart and which companies benefit from increased urbanization.

Table of Contents

59 Pages
Executive Summary
Players
Technology Briefing
The use of sensors and platforms defines a smart city
The development of smart cities
The early adopters
China’s state-sponsored initiatives
The new cities of the Middle East
Smart cities, smarter technology adoption
Smart city technologies
Trends
Technology trends
Macroeconomic trends
Regulatory trends
Industry Analysis
China’s smart cities
Market size and growth forecasts
Timeline
Value Chain
Platform layer
Smart city platforms
App layer
Smart buildings
Smart transportation
Smart infrastructure
Smart grid
Services layer
Companies
Public companies
Private companies
Smarter Cities
Sector Scorecards
Industrial automation sector scorecard
Who’s who
Thematic screen
Valuation screen
Risk screen
IT services sector scorecard
Who’s who
Thematic screen
Valuation screen
Risk screen
Glossary
Further Reading
GlobalData reports
Our Thematic Research Methodology
About GlobalData
Contact Us
List of Tables
Table 1: Technology trends
Table 2: Macroeconomic trends
Table 3: Regulatory trends
Table 4: Public companies
Table 5: Private companies
Table 6: Smarter Cities
Table 7: Glossary
Table 8: GlobalData reports
List of Figures
Figure 1: Who are the leading players in the smart cities theme, and where do they sit in the value chain?
Figure 2: Smart city technology readiness
Figure 3: Smart cities now span the globe
Figure 4: The leading Chinese smart cities
Figure 5: The smart cities market is expected to roughly double between 2023 and 2028
Figure 6: The smart cities story
Figure 7: Smart cities rely on many technologies, but especially the IoT technology stack
Figure 8: he smart cities value chain – platform layer
Figure 9: The smart cities value chain – app layer - Smart buildings
Figure 10: The smart cities value chain – app layer - Smart transportation
Figure 11: The smart cities value chain – app layer - Smart infrastructure
Figure 12: The smart cities value chain – app layer - Smart grid
Figure 13: The smart cities value chain – services layer - Smart city services
Figure 14: Who does what in the industrial automation space?
Figure 15: Thematic screen - Industrial automation sector scorecard
Figure 16: Valuation screen - Industrial automation sector scorecard
Figure 17: Risk screen - Industrial automation sector scorecard
Figure 18: Who does what in the IT services space?
Figure 19: Thematic screen - IT services sector scorecard
Figure 20: Valuation screen - IT services sector scorecard
Figure 21: Risk screen - IT services sector scorecard
Figure 22: Our five-step approach for generating a sector scorecard

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