Smart Circular Cities and Stakeholders Engagement: A Literature Review to Explore the Role of Artificial Intelligence

The smart city concept describes the use of information and communication technologies (ICT) in a sustainable urban context to improve its services’ efficiency and meet its inhabitants’ requirements. This transition towards sustainability includes creating circular cities with a focus on the well-being of the entire ecosystem. By employing Artificial Intelligence (AI) systems and strategies for sustainable circular purposes, the aim of building a smart circular city is to raise the standard of living, optimize the utilization of resources, strengthen the relationships between various stakeholders and tackle climate, ecological, social and economic challenges. To be better fitted to the requirements of citizens and accelerate progress towards the SDGs, the AI models must include communities in the construction, implementation, and ongoing modification of AI systems, making a huge contribution to improving decision-making. This study aims to investigate the direct and indirect relationships between AI, stakeholders’ engagement, and the smart circular city, integrating the literature review with bibliometric maps elaborated through the VOSviewer tools. The findings of this study will contribute to defining the research gap about the role of AI technologies in encouraging and promoting stakeholders’ participation in the collaborative decision-making process.