Urban decarbonisation: A multi-level perspective on energy consumption behaviour in sustainable smart cities

Sustainable Smart City (SSC) leverages smart technological innovations to mitigate carbon. However, the technocratic solutions alone won't deliver decarbonisation since it involves the energy consumption of urban actors. The study aims to investigate SSC technology's impact on energy consumption behaviour as a decarbonisation pathway. A systematic literature review was conducted using the Multi-Level Perspectives (MLP) Lens on SSC's socio-technical transition into the established urban regime as an indicator for sustainable transformation. Upon screening, 65 papers were used for thematic analysis that is then synthesised using three MLP socio-criteria for technological transition: LP - learning process, EV - expectations or visions for the innovation and SN - participation of a broader social network. The findings reveal that the disparate complexity of SSC discourse is related to its early phase of innovation status, as evidenced by the highest gap in the SN requirement. Consequently, enabling SSC technology as a pathway towards urban decarbonisation requires it to break through the established urban regime level. To achieve this necessitates more robust policy advocacy that impacts energy consumption behaviours, which would then drive the technological transition in the direction of urban decarbonisation.