{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,25]],"date-time":"2026-04-25T11:32:34Z","timestamp":1777116754907,"version":"3.51.4"},"reference-count":21,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"1","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,9]],"date-time":"2026-01-09T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1767916800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Systems"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Smart cities aim to integrate technological, infrastructural, and socio-environmental systems in order to improve urban sustainability and quality of life. To qualify as both smart and sustainable, a city is generally expected to pursue self-sufficiency through the adoption of sustainable practices in energy production, water supply, and food systems. Such cities also seek to reduce operational costs for both private operators and municipalities, while aiming to enhance the quality of life of their residents. Within this context, the relevance of a web-based application becomes particularly apparent. An application equipped with predefined indicators can provide a structured and measurable framework for assessing the current status of a city or town in relation to smart and sustainable development. This framework allows for the evaluation of the extent to which a city aligns with established criteria associated with smart and sustainable urban models. This paper introduces a Python-based web application, developed using Python version 3.10, designed to assess or support the self-assessment of a city\u2019s alignment with identified smart and sustainable development indicators. This study does not claim empirical validation or benchmarking performance; the proposed system is presented as a proof-of-concept framework. The work does not propose new smart city indicators. Rather, it presents an integrative system that seeks to operationalise existing smart and sustainable city indicators within a unified and modular web-based assessment framework, designed to support cross-domain evaluation and citizen-accessible self-assessment.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/systems14010074","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,9]],"date-time":"2026-01-09T16:03:16Z","timestamp":1767974596000},"page":"74","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Smart Urban Synergy: A Systems-Based Approach to Assessing Smart and Sustainable Cities"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"14","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8740-3747","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ocotl\u00e1n","family":"D\u00edaz-Parra","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Direcci\u00f3n de Investigaci\u00f3n, Innovaci\u00f3n y Posgrado, Universidad Polit\u00e9cnica de Pachuca, Carretera Pachuca\u2014Cd. Sahag\u00fan Km 20, Ex-Hacienda de Santa B\u00e1rbara, Zempoala 43830, HGO, Mexico"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-4928-5716","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Jorge A.","family":"Ruiz-Vanoye","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Direcci\u00f3n de Investigaci\u00f3n, Innovaci\u00f3n y Posgrado, Universidad Polit\u00e9cnica de Pachuca, Carretera Pachuca\u2014Cd. Sahag\u00fan Km 20, Ex-Hacienda de Santa B\u00e1rbara, Zempoala 43830, HGO, Mexico"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0008-8554-4192","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Juan M.","family":"Xicot\u00e9ncatl-P\u00e9rez","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Direcci\u00f3n de Investigaci\u00f3n, Innovaci\u00f3n y Posgrado, Universidad Polit\u00e9cnica de Pachuca, Carretera Pachuca\u2014Cd. Sahag\u00fan Km 20, Ex-Hacienda de Santa B\u00e1rbara, Zempoala 43830, HGO, Mexico"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4303-3852","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Alejandro","family":"Fuentes-Penna","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"El Colegio de Morelos, Av. Morelos Sur 154, Esquina con Amates, Colonia Las Palmas, Cuernavaca 62050, MOR, Mexico"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3170-4671","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ricardo A.","family":"Barrera-C\u00e1mara","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Facultad de Ciencias de la Informaci\u00f3n, Universidad Aut\u00f3noma del Carmen, Calle 56 No. 4, Esquina con Avenida Concordia, Colonia Benito Ju\u00e1rez, Ciudad del Carmen 24180, CAM, Mexico"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2133-3456","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Francisco R.","family":"Trejo-Macotela","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Direcci\u00f3n de Investigaci\u00f3n, Innovaci\u00f3n y Posgrado, Universidad Polit\u00e9cnica de Pachuca, Carretera Pachuca\u2014Cd. Sahag\u00fan Km 20, Ex-Hacienda de Santa B\u00e1rbara, Zempoala 43830, HGO, Mexico"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0003-5302-1454","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Jaime","family":"Aguilar-Ortiz","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Direcci\u00f3n de Investigaci\u00f3n, Innovaci\u00f3n y Posgrado, Universidad Polit\u00e9cnica de Pachuca, Carretera Pachuca\u2014Cd. Sahag\u00fan Km 20, Ex-Hacienda de Santa B\u00e1rbara, Zempoala 43830, HGO, Mexico"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0009-3712-1440","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Marco A.","family":"Vera-Jim\u00e9nez","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Direcci\u00f3n de Investigaci\u00f3n, Innovaci\u00f3n y Posgrado, Universidad Polit\u00e9cnica de Pachuca, Carretera Pachuca\u2014Cd. Sahag\u00fan Km 20, Ex-Hacienda de Santa B\u00e1rbara, Zempoala 43830, HGO, Mexico"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,9]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","unstructured":"Townsend, A. (2013). Smart Cities: Big Data, Civic Hackers and the Quest for a New Utopia, W. W. Norton & Company."},{"key":"ref_2","unstructured":"(2011). Cities and Climate Change: Global Report on Human Settlements 2011, United Nations Human Settlements Programme."},{"key":"ref_3","unstructured":"Florida, R. (2002). The Rise of the Creative Class and How It\u2019s Transforming Work, Leisure, Community and Everyday Life, Basic Books."},{"key":"ref_4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"102690","DOI":"10.1016\/j.cities.2020.102690","article-title":"Software systems from smart city vendors","volume":"101","author":"Saborido","year":"2020","journal-title":"Cities"},{"key":"ref_5","unstructured":"IBM Corporation (2026, January 04). 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Future Internet, 17.","DOI":"10.3390\/fi17050217"}],"container-title":["Systems"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2079-8954\/14\/1\/74\/pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,9]],"date-time":"2026-01-09T16:11:12Z","timestamp":1767975072000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2079-8954\/14\/1\/74"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,9]]},"references-count":21,"journal-issue":{"issue":"1","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,1]]}},"alternative-id":["systems14010074"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/systems14010074","relation":{},"ISSN":["2079-8954"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2079-8954","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,9]]}}}