Smart cities in Qatar toward a sustainable digital transformation

Abstract

The rapid progression of digital transformation has reshaped urban landscapes globally, fostering the development of smart cities. This thesis investigates the sustainability of digital transformation within the context of smart cities, focusing specifically on Qatar. With its ambitious national vision and substantial investments in smart city technologies, Qatar is a critical case study for understanding how digital transformation can be implemented to drive long-term sustainability. The research delves into critical areas such as governance frameworks, technological infrastructure, data management, and citizen engagement, all crucial for building resilient and sustainable smart cities. It also explores how digital solutions contribute to environmental, social, and economic sustainability, highlighting the role of emerging technologies like AI, IoT, and blockchain in improving city operations, resource management, and quality of life. The study uses quantitative and qualitative data from a survey and interviews with expert stakeholders to evaluate digital transformation efforts in Qatar's smart cities, including Lusail and Msheireb Downtown. It assesses their alignment with sustainability goals and recommends fostering an inclusive, efficient, and future-proof digital infrastructure. It also identifies challenges related to cybersecurity, regulatory frameworks, and digital inclusion, offering insights on how these can be mitigated to ensure the sustainability of Qatar's smart city initiatives. This research identifies key lessons applicable to other developing smart cities through evaluating Qatar’s approach, including the requirement of a well-defined regulatory framework, which can help in maintaining a balance between innovation and security, the significance of public-private partnerships in increasing technological adoption, and the role of digital literacy programs in ensuring inclusive participation. The thematic map and PRISMA synthesis together show that long-term sustainability depends not only on infrastructure investment, but also on governance capacity, interoperability, stakeholder trust, and adaptive regulation. This research contributes to the broader discourse on smart cities by presenting a comprehensive framework for sustainable digital transformation that is supported by survey analysis, stakeholder interviews, thematic mapping, and PRISMA-based evidence synthesis. It offers valuable lessons for Qatar's policymakers, technologists, urban planners, and others.