Analysis of the Social Aspect of Smart Cities Development for the Example of Smart Sustainable Buildings

Abstract

The concept of a smart city is assumed to use resources more efficiently and in an innovative, creative, and intelligent manner. Initial experience with implementing this concept relates primarily to investments in technology and infrastructure using smart solutions, particularly technical urban infrastructure. An important social aspect of a smart city—people—cannot not go unnoticed. The inhabitants of a smart city are not only beneficiaries; they participate in its co-creation, initiate activities and are creative. This paper focuses on one of the smart city’s technical infrastructure components, which are intelligent sustainable buildings. This article aims to analyze the factors characterizing smart sustainable buildings (SSB) and the possibilities for their development. For this purpose, a SWOT matrix was developed. The factors of this matrix were subjected to a cause-effect analysis using the DEMATEL method to establish relationships between them. The results of the analysis allowed us to examine the social aspect, i.e., the impact of creators and users of sustainable, intelligent buildings on their development and possibilities for their creative and innovative use in an urban space.