{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,4]],"date-time":"2026-05-04T10:00:28Z","timestamp":1777888828599,"version":"3.51.4"},"reference-count":31,"publisher":"SAGE Publications","issue":"1","content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["SCS"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2022,2,14]]},"abstract":"<jats:p>Blockchain technology is valuable due to the renowned characteristics, such as immutability, security, and transparency. Although blockchain\u2019s effectiveness and efficiency are yet to be proven, its potential for resolving social issues is attracting the attention of public administrations, private entities, and individuals to adopt or develop this technology. In this paper, some of the most high-profile blockchain-enabled smart city applications in South Korea, the United States and China are sampled and reviewed. The goal is to explore blockchain-related regulations or legislation in each country, which is the underlying basis to allow the blockchain pilots to proceed. Then, each country\u2019s key blockchain initiatives are explored using a top-down framework (i.e., central\/federal government \u2013 provincial\/state governments \u2013 city governments). Lastly, by summarizing those blockchain-based smart city projects, the challenges and observations are discussed.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3233\/scs-210120","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2022,2,8]],"date-time":"2022-02-08T12:16:33Z","timestamp":1644322593000},"page":"53-70","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":9,"title":["Sampling blockchain-enabled smart city applications among South Korea, the United States and China"],"prefix":"10.1177","volume":"1","author":[{"given":"Soomin","family":"Kim","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Management and Economics, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen, China. E-mail:\u00a0soominkim@link.cuhk.edu.cn"}]},{"given":"Ailing","family":"Zhang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Humanities and Social Science, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen, China. E-mails:\u00a0ailingzhang@link.cuhk.edu.cn,\u00a0rzliao@cuhk.edu.cn"}]},{"given":"Ruizhi","family":"Liao","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Humanities and Social Science, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen, China. E-mails:\u00a0ailingzhang@link.cuhk.edu.cn,\u00a0rzliao@cuhk.edu.cn"},{"name":"Shenzhen Key Laboratory of IoT Intelligent Systems and Wireless Network Technology, China"}]},{"given":"Wenjun","family":"Zheng","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Science and Engineering, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen, China. E-mails:\u00a0wenjunzheng@link.cuhk.edu.cn,\u00a0zhixianhu@link.cuhk.edu.cn,\u00a0sunzhenglong@cuhk.edu.cn"}]},{"given":"Zhixian","family":"Hu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Science and Engineering, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen, China. E-mails:\u00a0wenjunzheng@link.cuhk.edu.cn,\u00a0zhixianhu@link.cuhk.edu.cn,\u00a0sunzhenglong@cuhk.edu.cn"}]},{"given":"Zhenglong","family":"Sun","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Science and Engineering, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen, China. E-mails:\u00a0wenjunzheng@link.cuhk.edu.cn,\u00a0zhixianhu@link.cuhk.edu.cn,\u00a0sunzhenglong@cuhk.edu.cn"}]}],"member":"179","reference":[{"issue":"10","key":"10.3233\/SCS-210120_ref1","first-page":"67","article-title":"Legal system of blockchain and domestic and foreign blockchain legal system-focusing on industrial revitalization","volume":"17","author":"An","year":"2019","journal-title":"Journal of Digital Convergence"},{"key":"10.3233\/SCS-210120_ref2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"M.\u00a0Attaran and A.\u00a0Gunasekaran, Applications of Blockchain Technology in Business: Challenges and Opportunities, Springer Nature, 2019.","DOI":"10.1007\/978-3-030-27798-7"},{"issue":"9","key":"10.3233\/SCS-210120_ref3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1007\/s10916-020-01628-0","article-title":"Optimizing the implementation of COVID-19 \u201cimmunity certificates\u201d using blockchain","volume":"44","author":"Bansal","year":"2020","journal-title":"Journal of Medical Systems"},{"key":"10.3233\/SCS-210120_ref5","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"S.\u00a0Blemus, Law and blockchain: A legal perspective on current regulatory trends worldwide, Revue Trimestrielle de Droit Financier (Corporate Finance and Capital Markets Law Review) 4 (2017).","DOI":"10.2139\/ssrn.3080639"},{"key":"10.3233\/SCS-210120_ref6","unstructured":"J.\u00a0Caytas, Blockchain in the US regulatory setting: Evidentiary use in Vermont, Delaware, and elsewhere, Columbia Science & Technology Law Review (2017)."},{"key":"10.3233\/SCS-210120_ref7","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"V.\u00a0Chaurasia, A.\u00a0Yunus and M.\u00a0Singh, An overview of smart city: Observation, technologies, challenges and blockchain applications, in: Blockchain Technology for Smart Cities, Springer, Singapore, 2020.","DOI":"10.1007\/978-981-15-2205-5_7"},{"key":"10.3233\/SCS-210120_ref9","unstructured":"S.\u00a0Delahunty, Developments and adoption of blockchain in the US federal government, Forbes Technology Council (2018)."},{"key":"10.3233\/SCS-210120_ref10","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1145\/3287921.3287978"},{"key":"10.3233\/SCS-210120_ref11","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.7717\/peerj-cs.292"},{"key":"10.3233\/SCS-210120_ref15","unstructured":"J.\u00a0Heminway and A.\u00a0Sulkowski, Blockchains, corporate governance, and the lawyer\u2019s role, Wayne Law Review 65 (2019), 17."},{"key":"10.3233\/SCS-210120_ref16","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"H.\u00a0Hou, The application of blockchain technology in E-government in China, in: International Conference on Computer Communication and Networks (ICCCN), Vancouver, 2017.","DOI":"10.1109\/ICCCN.2017.8038519"},{"key":"10.3233\/SCS-210120_ref17","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"J.\u00a0Hou, C.\u00a0Wang and S.\u00a0Luo, How to improve the competiveness of distributed energy resources in China with blockchain technology, in: Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Vol.\u00a0151, 2020.","DOI":"10.1016\/j.techfore.2019.119744"},{"key":"10.3233\/SCS-210120_ref18","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"L.\u00a0Hou, R.\u00a0Liao and Q.\u00a0Luo, IoT and blockchain-based smart agri-food supply chains, in: Handbook of Smart Cities, Springer, Cham, 2020.","DOI":"10.1007\/978-3-030-15145-4_91-1"},{"key":"10.3233\/SCS-210120_ref19","unstructured":"S.\u00a0Hsu and J.\u00a0Li, Online consumer credit, online supply chain finance, and Internet banks, in: China\u2019s Fintech Explosion, Columbia University Press, 2020."},{"key":"10.3233\/SCS-210120_ref20","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1080\/07352166.2020.1782224","article-title":"Smart city initiatives: A comparative study of American and Chinese cities","author":"Hu","year":"2020","journal-title":"Journal of Urban Affairs"},{"key":"10.3233\/SCS-210120_ref21","unstructured":"S.J.\u00a0Hughes, Property, agency, and the blockchain: New technology and longstanding legal paradigms, Wayne Law Review 65 (2019), 57."},{"key":"10.3233\/SCS-210120_ref24","unstructured":"L.\u00a0Koperski, Why the renewable energy credit market needs standardization, Washington Journal of Law, Technology & Arts 13 (2017), 69."},{"issue":"11","key":"10.3233\/SCS-210120_ref28","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"2325","DOI":"10.1175\/BAMS-D-17-0037.1","article-title":"CO2 and carbon emissions from cities: Linkages to air quality, socioeconomic activity, and stakeholders in the Salt Lake City urban area","volume":"99","author":"Lin","year":"2018","journal-title":"Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society"},{"key":"10.3233\/SCS-210120_ref29","unstructured":"F.\u00a0Liu, J.\u00a0Luo, X.\u00a0Wu, N.\u00a0Wang, S.\u00a0Qin, A.\u00a0Li and S.\u00a0Lu, Can the issue of invoice reimbursement in China be solved completely through the integration of blockchain and IoT technology? 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