Key enabling technologies for smart city development: A comprehensive overview

The integration of emerging technologies, such as wireless sensor networks (WSN), big data analytics (BDA), artificial intelligence (AI), internet of things (IoT), and 5G connectivity, is driving the development of smart cities toward sustainable, efficient, and secure urban environments. This paper presents a systematic literature review (SLR) of 149 peer-reviewed studies to identify key enabling technologies, implementation challenges, and future research directions, including nanotechnology and quantum computing. A pilot case study on smart surveillance is introduced for secluded and underdeveloped areas where conventional video-based monitoring is impractical. The system employs variable-range passive infrared sensors (PIR), low-power MSP430 manufacturer is Texas Instruments https://www.ti.com/product-category/microcontrollers-processors/msp430-mcus/overview.html, and HC12 Subgig module purchased from vendor https://www.seeedstudio.com/to detect and track non-cooperative moving targets with minimal energy and bandwidth requirements. Field deployment achieved an average detection accuracy of 80.82% and a root mean square error (RMSE) of 0.88 m. The proposed approach demonstrates a scalable, privacy-conscious, and energy-efficient solution for enhancing safety in smart city applications, with future enhancements including solar-powered nodes and multitarget tracking capabilities.