This study provides a replicable framework for Indian policymakers, urban planners and scholars to measure, compare and act upon cultural dimensions in ways that make sustainability not only technically achievable but also socially meaningful and culturally grounded in smart cities. Using AHP, the various dimensions of cultural sustainability were identified from the literature and, through expert opinion, prioritised to provide a framework for integrating culture into the conception of a smart city.
Data were gathered through interviews with an expert panel comprising professionals from diverse backgrounds, each contributing meaningfully to the significance of cultural sustainability in the context of smart cities. The analytic hierarchy process (AHP) method was used to analyse data on cultural sustainability and smart cities to assess five dimensions: cultural heritage, cultural rights, cultural vitality, cultural resilience and cultural diversity. These dimensions of cultural sustainability in a smart city were identified using literature and expert inputs. The criteria and sub-criteria were ascertained, and a hierarchical structure was defined for which the AHP technique provides results.
The results revealed that, among the five criteria of cultural sustainability, cultural heritage encompassing a community's wisdom, identity and values takes the highest priority, with a weight of 0.384, followed by cultural resilience (0.292), cultural vitality (0.154) at third place, followed by cultural diversity (0.095) and cultural rights (0.075) at fourth and fifth places, respectively. The overall AHP ranking of the cultural sustainability parameters, with cultural diversity and cultural rights at the bottom, suggests that in emerging economies, culture is perceived through its tangible attributes, affordability, and economic benefits.
This study is unique in integrating cultural sustainability into sustainable development within a smart city framework. By expanding on the concept of culture for a smart city, it transforms culture from an abstract concept into one with measurable dimensions. It enriches the existing definition of a smart city by bringing cultural sustainability and its multiple dimensions into its ambit.
The findings of our research contribute to the broader framework for incorporating culture into smart cities and provide a mechanism for incorporating its various dimensions. It is a comprehensive framework which captures the multidimensional nature of culture and its effect on sustainable development in the context of a smart city. The inclusion of culture enriches our current understanding of sustainability and provides a pathway for incorporating it into tangible outcomes.
The research highlights the contours of culture that can contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals, primarily SDG 11, which focuses on creating sustainable cities and communities that enable thriving cultural spaces. From a monolithic perspective on what constitutes smart, which routinely comprises technical, information technology and infrastructural facets, the smart city becomes more rooted and people-centric when cultural sustainability is incorporated.
This study is a novel attempt to provide a roadmap for incorporating culture into conversations about smart cities by offering measurable indicators across various dimensions, a research gap that has remained until now. Drawing on culture as the fourth pillar of sustainability, this study aims to identify the dimensions of cultural sustainability in a smart city.
