Study level

  • PhD
  • Master of Philosophy
  • Honours
  • Vacation research experience scheme

Faculty/School

Topic status

We're looking for students to study this topic.

Research centre

Supervisors

Professor Tan Yigitcanlar
Position
Professor
Division / Faculty
Faculty of Engineering

Overview

The prospects of smart urban technologies range from expanding infrastructure capacity to generating new services, from reducing emissions to engaging the public, from minimising human errors to improved decision-making, and from supporting sustainable development to improving performances of commercial enterprises and cities. The most popular technologies in the context of cities include, but are not limited to:

  • internet-of-things (IoT)
  • autonomous vehicles (AV)
  • Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS)
  • bigdata
  • 5G/6G
  • robotics
  • blockchain
  • cloud computing
  • 3D printing
  • augmented and virtual reality (AR/VR)
  • digital twins
  • artificial intelligence (AI).

These disruptive technologies are critical in transforming our cities into smarter and more sustainable ones, and have the potential to address the complex urbanisation challenges of our time. Nonetheless, in the case of misapplication, these technologies can also generate undesired externalities to our cities and societies.

Research activities

This project will investigate contributions and risks of smart urban technology-driven approaches to sustainable development. As part of the research project, you will undertake one or more of the following:

  • policy and best practice analyses
  • qualitative, quantitative and spatial analyses
  • scientometric, bibliometric and meta analyses
  • survey and interview design and execution
  • systematic literature reviews

Outcomes

The outcomes of this work will include:

  • insights into contributions and risks of technology-driven approaches to sustainable development
  • frameworks to conceptualise technology adoption to achieve sustainable outcomes
  • roadmaps to operationalise technology adoption to achieve sustainable outcomes
  • dissemination of study findings in academic, professional and online media outlets.

Skills and experience

  • analytical ability
  • problem solving skills
  • adequate methodological background
  • broad understanding of urbanisation issues and research.

Keywords

Contact

Contact the supervisor for more information.