Introduction: To create a smart city in the first step, we need to identify the dimensions and relevant indicators of a smart city. Considering the importance of smart city development in Iran and the necessity of formulating appropriate policies for its development, identifying the components and dimensions of this field is crucial. Therefore, one of the knowledge gaps in this area is the lack of identification of suitable dimensions and indicators for a smart city. This research aims to address this gap by examining the concepts, indicators, relationships, and dimensions of this system in the best possible way. Identifying suitable dimensions can lead to the establishment of a systematic vision and facilitate appropriate development of smart cities in Iran. The innovation of this research lies in systematically identifying and explaining the indicators of smart city development as a step towards achieving the vision of smart cities. Given the lack of comprehensive research in the field of smart cities in the country, the findings of this research can serve as an effective initial step for future research in this area.
Methodology: Since the concept of a smart city is relatively new, most articles in this field are qualitative studies without quantitative data. Therefore, it seems that the meta-synthesis approach is a suitable method for data collection in this research area. The target population for extracting indicators of sustainable smart cities is all articles published in reputable journals and conferences from 2000 to 2021. The review and selection of documents and articles have been done systematically and purposefully. There are various methods for systematic review. Different authors have described this process to some extent differently. In this research, the Sandowlski and Barossa (2006) model has been used for the systematic review of research. The first stage of the meta-synthesis method is formulating the research question. Considering the objective of this research, appropriate answers to the "what, who, when, how" questions should be provided to validate the meta-synthesis method and complete the study. Texts and articles reviewed in this method include all articles related to the research questions. The second stage involves identifying articles using selected keywords. The information sources used in this research are English articles available in selected scientific databases such as Emerald, Science Direct, Taylor & Francis, Springer, and Google Scholar. After determining the information sources, the next step is article selection. The selection of articles is based on the keywords used in this research, namely "key factors" or "success factors" or "development factors" and "smart city." Based on the 106 final selected articles, the process of extracting information from these articles was performed. First, all extracted factors from the literature study were considered as codes, and then, considering the concept and content of each of these codes, they were categorized into similar concepts so that the research concepts and themes could be formed by combining similar codes.
Results and Discussion: After analyzing the identified indicators in the dimensions of smart economy, smart environment, smart governance, smart living, smart mobility, smart people, smart technology, and smart energy, they were classified. Overall, these indicators or factors that constitute the contributions of this study can be used to help cities in setting their goals and monitoring their performance in smart city development over time. As a result, cities regularly use indicators to determine their quantitative goals and systematically monitor progress towards those goals. The development of smart cities contributes to improving the quality of life for citizens, providing public services, and achieving sustainable development goals, among others. The development of various indicators of a smart city, including mobile network coverage, Internet of Things, cloud computing, big data, and next-generation mobile networks, has played a role in creating sustainable smart urban strategies. Many of these tools are employed globally and accelerate the next technological and industrial revolution that combines intelligent and sustainable characteristics. However, as the design and implementation of smart city strategies continue to evolve, the development of robust indicators that enable better monitoring, measurement, and understanding of the technical requirements as well as the social and environmental implications of using information and communication technologies in urban environments is crucial. In order to enhance further understanding of the components that can make cities smarter and to support decision-makers, practitioners, and citizens equally in the development of new approaches to urban development, it is necessary to examine a set of key performance indicators for smart city development by policymakers.
Conclusion: The aim of this research is to introduce dimensions and key indicators related to the development of smart cities. The results of conducted studies indicate that smart cities are built on several pillars. Based on the results and analyses, a set of performance indicators for smart cities were extracted using systematic literature review. All the indicators were classified into eight categories. This research introduces indicators that are of interest to global, national, and regional stakeholders involved in urban development. The innovation of this research lies in considering different dimensions and indicators towards the success of smart cities. The content and additional information available in this research indicate: Although the categorization among indicators may vary, common themes include economy, environment, and to some extent governance. These are the areas that have been recognized as the core strategies of smart cities. The social sustainability aspect is addressed through various sets of indicators in different ways. Some articles have a main categorization for social aspects and add subcategories, while others do not include a single social category but use multiple categories related to social aspects. Despite specific approaches and occasional variations in measuring the role of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in smart city contexts, attention to infrastructure and technology dimensions remains crucial.