Ullah, F; Olatunji, O and Qayyum, S (2026) A scoping review of green internet of things in construction and smart cities: Current applications, adoption strategies and future directions. Smart and Sustainable Built Environment, 15(1), pp. 294-318. ISSN 2046-6099
Abstract
Purpose – Contemporary technological disruptions are espoused as though they stimulate sustainable growth in the built environment through the Green Internet of Things (G-IoT). Learning from discipline-specific experiences, this paper articulates recent advancements in the knowledge and concepts of G-IoT in relation to the construction and smart city sectors. It provides a scoping review for G-IoT as an overlooked dimension. Attention was paid to modern circularity, cleaner production and sustainability as key benefits of G-IoT adoption in line with the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (UN-SDGs). In addition, this study also investigates the current application and adoption strategies of G-IoT. Design/methodology/approach – This study uses the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) review approach. Resources are drawn from Scopus and Web of Science repositories using apt search strings that reflect applications of G-IoT in the built environment in relation to construction management, urban planning, societies and infrastructure. Thematic analysis was used to analyze pertinent themes in the retrieved articles. Findings – G-IoT is an overlooked dimension in construction and smart cities so far. Thirty-three scholarly articles were reviewed from a total of 82 articles retrieved, from which five themes were identified: G-IoT in buildings, computing, sustainability, waste management and tracking and monitoring. Among other applications, findings show that G-IoT is prominent in smart urban services, healthcare, traffic management, green computing, environmental protection, site safety and waste management. Applicable strategies to hasten adoption include raising awareness, financial incentives, dedicated work approaches, G-IoT technologies and purposeful capacity building among stakeholders. The future of G-IoT in construction and smart city research is in smart drones, building information modeling, digital twins, 3D printing, green computing, robotics and policies that incentivize adoption. Originality/value – This study adds to the normative literature on envisioning potential strategies for adoption and the future of G-IoT in construction and smart cities as an overlooked dimension. No previous study to date has reviewed pertinent literature in this area, intending to investigate the current applications, adoption strategies and future direction of G-IoT in construction and smart cities. Researchers can expand on the current study by exploring the identified G-IoT applications and adoption strategies in detail, and practitioners can develop implementation policies, regulations and guidelines for holistic G-IoT adoption.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | construction; green internet of things; smart cities; sustainability; waste management |
| Index terms: | implementation, internet, dimension, monitoring, built environment, sustainable development goal, robotics, traffic management, circularity, smart city, United Nations, capacity building, building information modelling, urban planning, digital twin, methodology, practitioner, computing, thematic analysis, regulation, waste management, science, strategy, financial incentive, society, drone, meta-analysis, environmental protection, 3D printing |
| Subjects: | social and economic development, urban sustainability, control systems, computing systems, health monitoring assessment and metrics, institutional frameworks, management, methods and analysis, research evaluation and metrics, infrastructure and transport systems, political science, environmental engineering, information systems, manufacturing, digital engineering, sustainable materials, specialized education, waste management, practitioner, urban planning, operations management, contractual arrangements, economic analysis, research methods, sustainable design, automation and robotics, communities and social development |
| Topics: | Roles and Professions, Stakeholder Management, Governance, Business Strategy, Research Practice, Site Management, Digital Applications, Urban Studies, Human Resources, Procurement, Sustainability, Health and Safety, Education |
| Descriptive scope: | 4 PCTA |
N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here