Future cities' theories for sustainable future: A systematic literature review

Abstract

In recent decades, sustainability has surged as a pivotal topic in academic discourse, driven by heightened global awareness of its critical role in addressing climate change, biodiversity loss, and social inequities. Consequently, cities and local authorities are increasingly prioritizing sustainability integration into urban development strategies. However, the realization of the 2015 Sustainable Development Goals faces challenges, with only 12–15 % of targets estimated to be met by the 2030 deadline. Scholars attribute this under-performance to the absence of a comprehensive approach to sustainable urban development. This study investigates the framework and mechanisms of mature future cities’ theories in achieving sustainability, focusing on sustainable urban development principles. Through a systematic review utilizing Natural Language Processing and statistical analysis of over 27,000 SCOPUS documents, the research evaluates 43 future cities’ theories from 1900 to 2023. Criteria such as comprehensiveness, consistency, empirical support, and applicability to sustainable development are analyzed. The study identifies mature theories like Smart City, Resilient City, and Sustainable City as promising avenues for sustainable urban development, albeit requiring refinement. The findings offer valuable insights to guide research and practice towards achieving sustainable urban development in cities.