Responsible Decarbonization for Smart Cities: A People-Centered Agenda

The health implications of decarbonization, especially at the level of cities, industries and communities, have been recognized as important for a just transition towards a more responsible and sustainable systems of economy and governance. To ensure a research agenda that is people-centered, the article presents bibliometric findings of 166 papers on the life quality and wellness of low-carbon cities from the Web of Science citation database. The intellectual and conceptual structure of the literature reveals developments within and across different disciplines and domains. Based on the findings, a research agenda is proposed to discuss how decarbonization processes can be planned and designed more responsibly in smart cities. Future policy and research work can advance the people-centered approach to ensure both the quality of life and subject well-being can be meaningfully improved during the transitions towards low-carbon and ultimately net-zero future.