Artificial Intelligence of Things for Smarter Eco-Cities: Pioneering the Environmental Synergies of Urban Brain, Digital Twin, Metabolic Circularity, and Platform

This book takes readers on a captivating journey into the transformative role of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and AI of Things (AIoT) technologies in reshaping sustainable urban development. By combining comprehensive theoretical analyses, synthesized empirical evidence, and practical case studies, it offers pioneering interdisciplinary insights and unifying frameworks. The book highlights the synergistic integration of Urban Brain (UB), Urban Digital Twin (UDT), Smart Urban Metabolism (SUM), and platform urbanism, underscored by their collaborative potential to revolutionize the environmental management, planning, and governance of smarter eco-cities and sustainable smart cities. It leverages cutting-edge technologies and data-driven approaches to optimize urban systems, resource efficiency, and resilience. This approach provides a holistic understanding of the rapidly evolving landscape of AI- and AIoT-driven sustainable urban development.

Targeting a broad and diverse audience across multiple disciplines and fields, the book aims to share state-of-the-art research, present innovative solutions, and forecast future trends in urban sustainability. As both a seminal reference and a valuable resource for researchers, practitioners, industry experts, and policymakers, it provides essential guidance for those engaged in driving technological innovation, steering urban transformation, promoting environmental sustainability, or working at the crossroads of these critical areas.

Simon Elias Bibri, PhD, is a senior research scientist and project coordinator at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL), Institute of Computer and Communication Sciences (IINFCOM), School of Architecture, Civil and Environmental Engineering (ENAC), and Media and Design Laboratory (LDM). He has a diverse professional background, having served as head of a computer department, software engineer, information technology (IT) business engineer, project manager, green information and communications technology (ICT) and environmental sustainability strategist, research associate, assistant professor, and consultant. Currently, he is an expert in Artificial Intelligence and Applied Machine Learning for Climate Action for the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), an international expert in Sustainable Cities for the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), and an expert for Focus Group for Smart Sustainable Cities, Environmental Sustainability, and Digital Twin for the United Nations Agency of International Telecommunication Union (ITU). He also holds the position of Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of Environmental Studies at Taylor & Francis Group.

Dr. Bibri’s academic journey exemplifies both interdisciplinarity and transdisciplinarity, traversing and bridging the realms of science, technology, and society. This multifaceted background underscores his ability to navigate and contribute to various fields, thereby enriching the intersectional understanding and collaborative knowledge within these critical areas. His intellectual background encompasses computer science, computer engineering, systems science, innovation science, environmental science, social sciences, and humanities. He holds a bachelor’s degree in computer engineering and an advanced management program (AMP) degree. Notably, he earned multiple master’s degrees at esteemed Swedish universities, namely, Lund University, West University, Blekinge Institute of Technology, Stockholm University, Malmö University, and Mid-Sweden University. Additionally, he earned a PhD in computer science at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), specializing in computational technology and urban informatics, with a research focus on data-driven smart sustainable cities.

Dr. Bibri is a prolific author with numerous highly cited journal articles, six authored books, two edited books, and five co-edited books to his credit. His work has been cited over 9,500 times, resulting in an h-index of 47. His impact is further underscored by his recognition by Stanford and Elsevier as one of the top 2% of scientists globally for five consecutive years. He has also been listed by ScholarGPS in 2022 as the #1 highly ranked scholar in sustainable cities, #4 in big data, and #8 in sustainability in the world.

Dr. Bibri’s research interests and expertise cover a broad spectrum of areas at the intersection of science and technology, urban development and planning, and strategic sustainable development. These areas include smart cities, sustainable cities, smarter eco-cities, sustainable smart cities, urban artificial intelligence, urban artificial intelligence of things, urban digital twin, smart urban metabolism, cyber-physical systems of systems, Internet of City Things, platform urbanism, environmental planning and governance, environmental sustainability, climate change mitigation and adaptation, smart sustainable energy, smart sustainable transportation, smart sustainable waste management, sustainability transitions, and technological innovation systems.