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Title	Navigating The Institutionalisation Of Smart Technologies For Urban Sustainability: A Grounded Theory Approach
ID_Doc	38874
Authors	Vu K.N.; Nygaard C.A.; Glackin S.
Year	2025
Published	Cities, 161
DOI	http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cities.2025.105866
Abstract	Globally, cities strive to attain sustainability goals by leveraging smart technologies. Accordingly, there have been consistent scholarly efforts to elucidate the connection between adopting smart technologies (smartness domain) and achieving sustainability goals (sustainability domain). However, very little attention has been paid to exploring the processes through which these two domains are systematically integrated. This paper addresses this gap by asking: How are smart technologies institutionalised within socio-technical systems to achieve urban sustainability, particularly at the technology selection or experimentation stage? To answer this question, the paper aims to (1) identify and analyse drivers, enablers, and barriers (DEBs) to institutionalising smart technologies to achieve sustainability outcomes and (2) develop a conceptual model to elucidate complex socio-institutional interactions between 'smartness' and 'sustainability' domains. We draw on interviews with policymakers, practitioners, and technical leaders in 23 smart city projects funded by the Australian federal government to identify a set of overarching DEBs, and a Grounded Theory Approach to construct a four-phase path model to formalise the institutionalisation of smart technologies for sustainability outcomes: Compatibility, Alignment, Co-adaptation, and Integration. The paper provides policymakers and practitioners with deeper insights into and crucial implications for enhancing implementation and institutionalisation strategies in current and future smart city programs in pursuit of sustainability. © 2025 The Authors
Author Keywords	Grounded theory; Institutionalisation; Local government; Smart cities; Smart technologies; Urban sustainability

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