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Cited by 94Smart Cities and TechnologiesSustainable Urban and Rural DevelopmentConstruction Management and Sustainability

A fuzzy synthetic evaluation of the challenges of smart city development in developing countries

Open access
Aghimien, Douglas Omoregie, Aigbavboa, Clinton, Edwards, David J., Mahamadu, Abdul-Majeed, Olomolaiye, Paul, Nash, Hazel, Onyia, Michael·2022·Smart and Sustainable Built Environment
DOI 10.1108/sasbe-06-2020-0092
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Abstract

Purpose: This study presents a fuzzy synthetic evaluation of the challenges of smart city realisation in developing countries, using Nigeria as a case study. By defining and delineating the problems faced by the country, more viable directions to attaining smart city development can be achieved. Design/methodology/approach: The study adopted a post-positivist philosophical stance with a deductive approach. A structured questionnaire was used to gather data from built environment professionals involved in the delivery of Nigerian public infrastructures. Six dimensions of the challenges of smart cities were identified from literature and explored. They are governance, economic, social, technological, environmental and legal issues. Data gathered were analysed using Cronbach alpha test for reliability, Shapiro-Wilks test for normality, Kruskal-Wallis H-test for consistency and fuzzy synthetic evaluation test for the synthetic evaluation of the challenges of smart city attainment. Findings: The findings revealed that all six assessed dimensions have a significant impact on the attainment of smart cities in Nigeria. More specifically, issues relating to environmental, technological, social and legal challenges are more prominent. Originality/value: The fuzzy synthetic approach adopted provides a clear, practical insight on the issues that need to be addressed before the smart city development can be attained within developing countries.

AI snapshot

Written from the paper’s full text.

TL;DR

This study identifies and assesses challenges to smart city development in Nigeria using fuzzy synthetic evaluation. It finds all 34 assessed challenges have a high overall impact (OIL 3.62), with environmental challenges ranked highest (3.87).

Key findings

  • The overall impact level of the 34 assessed challenges was 3.62 on a 1–5 scale, above the average of 3.0, indicating a high impact on smart city attainment in Nigeria.
  • Environmental challenges had the highest impact level (3.87), followed by technology (3.71), social (3.64), and legal (3.57); economic and politics/governance dimensions had the least impact but remained above average.
  • Kruskal-Wallis testing found no statistically significant difference in views across Nigeria’s six regions for 32 of 34 variables (p > 0.05); two variables had significant differences (PG2, p = 0.007; EN5, p = 0.000).
  • The questionnaire instrument was reliable with an overall Cronbach’s alpha of 0.782.

Methods

  • The study adopted a post-positivism stance and deductive approach, using a structured closed-ended questionnaire with 34 variables rated on a 5-point Likert scale.
  • A total of 154 responses were collected from built environment professionals with at least five years’ experience across Nigeria’s six regions; electronic questionnaire, convenience sampling, and snowball sampling were used.
  • Analysis included Cronbach’s alpha, Shapiro-Wilk normality testing (all 34 variables p = 0.000, non-normal), Kruskal-Wallis H-test, and fuzzy synthetic evaluation using model 3 M(•,⊕) to derive weightings, membership functions, and overall impact levels.

Limitations

  • The paper states that the method adopted limited the findings and suggests future studies use a mixed-method approach, first employing Delphi to validate challenges gathered from literature before quantitative assessment.
  • The paper states that convenience and snowball sampling made determining the exact number of distributions difficult, so a total response rate could not be calculated.
  • Evident from the text: reliance on 154 self-reported Likert ratings from built environment professionals and non-probability sampling may limit generalizability; the non-normal data also restricted analysis to non-parametric methods.

Model-written summary. Check it against the paper before relying on it.

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1108/sasbe-06-2020-0092

Cites

72 of 72 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Nothing to recompute.

Claims the paper makes

0 of 80 cited sources checked · 0 supported · 0 flagged

  • Findingown data

    Legal-related variables have an impact level of 3.57.

    “This is followed by technology, social and legal-related variables with an impact level of 3.71, 3.64 and 3.57 respectively.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim
  • Findingreasoning

    The membership function for all challenges of smart city development (Level 1) is (0.05, 0.22, 0.16, 0.30, 0.29).

    “Membership function for all challenges of smart city development (Level 1) = (0.05 0.22, 0.16, 0.30, 0.29).”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim
  • Findingown data

    Social-related variables have an impact level of 3.64.

    “This is followed by technology, social and legal-related variables with an impact level of 3.71, 3.64 and 3.57 respectively.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim
  • Findingown data

    The situation regarding critical issues facing smart city development in Nigeria is slightly different from the mostly governance-related issues found by Rana et al. (2019).

    “AlthoughRana et al. (2019)discovered that the critical issues facing smart city development is mostly governance related, the situation is slightly different in Nigeria.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites Rana et al. (2019)

      Not checked in the free run.

  • Findingown data

    Technology-related variables have an impact level of 3.71.

    “This is followed by technology, social and legal-related variables with an impact level of 3.71, 3.64 and 3.57 respectively.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim
  • May combine two claims. 19
  • The quote only partly states this claim. 1
  • Classified as probably not a substantial claim. 17

  • May combine two claims. The quote only partly states this claim.

    Findingown data

    Among the six dimensions, variables relating to the environment have the highest significance level, with an overall impact level of 3.87.

    “However, on an individual basis, variables relating to the environment have a higher significance level with an overall level of 3.87.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim

  • May combine two claims.

    Findingown data

    The economic and political/governance dimensions have impact levels above average (3.0).

    “Despite being the dimensions with the least impact level, the economic and political/governance dimensions still have impact level of above average.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim

  • May combine two claims.

    Findingreasoning

    The overall impact level (OIL) of all 34 assessed challenges on smart city attainment in Nigeria is 3.62, which is above the average of 3.0 and indicates a high impact.

    “Considering the Likert scale of one to five with three being average, the OIL of 3.62 derived implies that all the assessed 34 variables have a high impact on the attainment of a smart city in Nigeria as this is above average of 3.0.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim

  • May combine two claims.

    Findingown data

    Lack of awareness and poverty are crucial challenges of smart city development discovered in the study.

    “Other crucial challenges discovered include lack of awareness and poverty that has characterised the country in recent times.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing).

    Findingnone given

    The issue of rapid urbanisation emanating from the continuous rise in population is significant.

    “More significantly, the issue of rapid urbanisation emanating from the continuous rise in population.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim

  • May combine two claims.

    Findingown data

    Despite governance having a significant impact, the major challenge facing smart city development in Nigeria lies in the environment.

    “Despite governance having a significant impact, it was observed that the major challenge facing smart city development in Nigeria lies in the environment.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim
    • Rests on an assumption: Poor planning of cities is a challenge of smart city development.

  • May combine two claims.

    Findingown data

    The study found that epileptic internet connectivity in Nigeria and the lack of embrace of digital technologies are critical technological issues facing smart city development in the country.

    “Furthermore, the study found that the epileptic internet connectivity in Nigeria and the lack of embrace of digital technologies are critical technological issues facing smart city development in the country.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim
    • Rests on an assumption: High cost, lack of access, and slow internet connectivity are critical issues in most African countries.

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing).

    Premisecitation

    It is practically impossible to have an all-inclusive smart city without cooperation between a city's network such as public institutions, private sector, voluntary sector and citizens.

    “Nam and Pardo (2011) posited that it is practically impossible to have an all-inclusive smart city in an environment wherein cooperation between city's network such as public institutions, private sector, voluntary sector and citizens is absent.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites Nam and Pardo, 2011

      Not checked in the free run.

  • Classified as probably not a substantial claim.

    Premisecitation

    Barriers to smart city attainment can be categorised into six distinct groups: economic, social, technology, governance, environmental, and legal and ethical.

    “Rana et al. (2019) assessed the barriers of smart cities in India and concluded based on existing literature that the barriers towards smart city attainment can be categorised into six distinct groups.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites Rana et al., 2019

      Not checked in the free run.

  • May combine two claims.

    Premisecitation

    When governance is poor and trust does not exist between the government and its citizens, smart city development cannot be attained.

    “When governance is poor, and trust does not exist between the government and its citizen, smart city development cannot be attained (Ruhlandt, 2018).”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites Ruhlandt, 2018

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    Premisecitation

    The Lagos State Governor signed a smart city deal with Dubai in 2016 to transform Lagos into a smart city, but the deal has not been realised.

    “For instance, in 2016, the Lagos State Governor signed a smart city deal with Dubai with the sole aim of transforming Lagos -one of the major commercial cities in Nigeria-into a smart city.Unfortunately, the realisation of this deal is yet to occur (Ekwealor, 2016).”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites Ekwealor, 2016

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    Premisecitation

    Poor education engenders a poor awareness of the concept of smart cities, which is a crucial challenge of attaining smart cities.

    “A poor education engenders a poor awareness of the concept of smart cities which is another crucial challenge of attaining smart cities (cf.Kogan and Lee, 2014;Rana et al., 2019).”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 2 sources checked
    • cites Kogan and Lee, 2014

      Not checked in the free run.

    • cites Rana et al., 2019

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  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing).

    Premisecitation

    People within an environment have an important role to play in the proper deployment of smart applications.

    “Similarly, people within an environment have an important role to play in the proper deployment of smart applications (Al-Nuaimi et al., 2015;Kramers et al., 2014).”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 2 sources checked
    • cites Al-Nuaimi et al., 2015

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    • cites Kramers et al., 2014

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  • Classified as probably not a substantial claim.

    Premisecitation

    The internet is the backbone of any connected city.

    “With the internet being the backbone of any connected city (Silva et al., 2018)”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites Silva et al., 2018

      Not checked in the free run.

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing). May combine two claims.

    Premisecitation

    The major culprits of Nigeria's high level of poverty are unemployment, high level of dependent population, and overpopulation.

    “According to George and Ukpong (2013), the major culprits of this high level of poverty are unemployment, high level of dependent population, and overpopulation.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites George and Ukpong, 2013

      Not checked in the free run.

  • May combine two claims.

    Premisecitation

    Economic instability is a vital issue; instability and uncertainty in any economy have severe effects on long-term growth, cost of living and infrastructure delivery.

    “Economic instability is also a vital issue.Studies have shown that the resultant effect of instability and uncertainty in any economy is severe on long-term growth, cost of living and infrastructure delivery (Adefeso and Mobolaji, 2010;Akanni and Osinowo, 2013).”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 2 sources checked
    • cites Adefeso and Mobolaji, 2010

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    • cites Akanni and Osinowo, 2013

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  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S2 (checkable).

    Interpretationreasoning

    Smart city development will continue to be more of a dream than a reality in Nigeria unless policymakers checkmate the high rate of urbanisation and increased population through proper development of rural areas.

    “The implication of these findings is that smart city development will continue to be more of a dream than a reality in Nigeria unless policymakers find a way to checkmate the issue of high rate of urbanisation and increased population through proper development of rural areas.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing). May combine two claims.

    Study design and conductnone given

    The study's findings were limited by certain factors, most significantly the method adopted.

    “the findings were limited by certain factors.Most significant is the method adopted.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing).

    Premisecitation

    There is a fine line between gathering citizens' data and ensuring privacy rights are protected.

    “Khan et al. (2014) noted that there is a fine line between gathering citizens' data and ensuring privacy rights are protected.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites Khan et al., 2014

      Not checked in the free run.

  • May combine two claims.

    Interpretationown data

    The study's findings indicate that Nigeria has more urgent issues to tackle before considering city transformation, including high urbanisation, increased population growth, poor basic infrastructure, poverty, poor legislation and regulations, economic instability, and poor governance.

    “Practically, the study's findings revealed that the country has more urgent issues to tackle before considering city transformation.These issues include high urbanisation, increased population growth, poor basic infrastructure, poverty, poor legislation and regulations, economic instability, poor governance etc.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing).

    Study design and conductown data

    A total of 154 responses were collected after one month and three weeks of questionnaire administration.

    “However, a total of 154 responses were collected after one month and three weeks of questionnaire administration.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing).

    Premisecitation

    Nigeria has the highest number of people living in extreme poverty compared to other countries around the world.

    “The Vanguard (2018) reported that the country has the highest number of people living in extreme poverty when compared to other countries around the world.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites The Vanguard, 2018

      Not checked in the free run.

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing).

    Premisecitation

    Big data analytics has a significant influence on the attainment of smart cities.

    “For instance, Al-Nuaimi et al. (2015) noted a significant influence of big data analytics on the attainment of smart cities.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites Al-Nuaimi et al., 2015

      Not checked in the free run.

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing).

    Premisecitation

    Persistent poverty is a common issue in Nigeria.

    “The situation is similar in Nigeria as persistent poverty is a common issue (Danaan, 2018).”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites Danaan, 2018

      Not checked in the free run.

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing).

    Study design and conductreasoning

    The exact number of questionnaire distributions and total response rate could not be calculated because of the snowball sampling approach.

    “Based on the approach adopted, determining the exact number of distributions becomes difficult, thus making the calculation of a total response rate impossible.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing). May combine two claims.

    Premisecitation

    At present, Nigeria has the highest population in Africa, with over 196 million people.

    “At present, Nigeria has the highest population in Africa, with over 196 million people (United Nations, 2019).”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites United Nations, 2019

      Not checked in the free run.

  • May combine two claims.

    Premisecitation

    Population increase generates traffic congestion, pollution and increased social inequality.

    “Also, population increase generate traffic congestion, pollution and increased social inequality (Monzon, 2015;Neirotti et al., 2014).”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 2 sources checked
    • cites Monzon, 2015

      Not checked in the free run.

    • cites Neirotti et al., 2014

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  • May combine two claims.

    Study design and conductreasoning

    Model 3 (M(•, ⨁)) is the most suitable fuzzy synthetic evaluation model for this study because many factors (34) are considered and the difference in their weights is minimal.

    “While these four models have their unique characteristics, only model 3 is most suitable for this study as it can be adopted when many factors are being considered, and the difference in their weight is minimal (refer to Table 2).”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim

  • May combine two claims.

    Study design and conductown data

    The data gathered from the 34 assessed challenges is not normally distributed, as the Shapiro-Wilk test p-value for all 34 challenges is 0.000, below 0.05.

    “Shapiro-Wilk test revealed that the p-value of all the 34 assessed challenges is 0.000, which is < 0.05 required criteria for normality.This means that the data gathered is not normally distributed, hence only statistical methods that do not require a data to normally distributed approach can be adopted.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing).

    Premisecitation

    Akamai, a global content delivery platform, ranked the internet speed of Nigeria at 114 out of 143.

    “Akamai -a global content delivery platform -ranked the internet speed of Nigeria at 114 out of 143”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites Akamai

      Not checked in the free run.

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing).

    Premisecitation

    One essential dimension needed for smart city attainment is having smart people derived from a proper education.

    “Giffinger et al. (2007) noted that one of the essential dimensions needed for smart city attainment is having smart people derived from a proper education.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites Giffinger et al., 2007

      Not checked in the free run.

  • May combine two claims.

    Premisecitation

    Lack of adoption and poor development of industry 4.0 technologies is evident in most African countries.

    “However, the case is not the same for most African countries where lack of adoption and poor development is still evident (Aghimien et al., 2019).”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites Aghimien et al., 2019

      Not checked in the free run.

  • May combine two claims.

    Interpretationreasoning

    The high population in Nigeria results in severe pressure on scarce resources and high urban migration in search of green pastures.

    “The resultant effect of this is the severe pressure on scarce resources and high urban migration in search of green pastures.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim
33 of 33

  • The paper relies on this without support.

    The situations in other developing countries, particularly in Africa, are similar to those observed in Nigeria.

    “Theoretically, the work creates a strong theoretical foundation for future studies on the attainment of a smart city in developing countries, particularly in Africa where the situations are similar to those observed in the current study area.”

  • The paper relies on this without support.

    High cost, lack of access, and slow internet connectivity are critical issues in most African countries.

    “Another critical issue is the high cost, lack of access, and slow internet connectivity that has bedevilled most Africa countries.”

  • The paper relies on this without support.

    Poor planning of cities is a challenge of smart city development.

    “Poor planning of cities (EN1)”

  • The paper relies on this without support.

    Virus threats and lack of privacy are important issues of technology adoption.

    “also added that virus threats and lack of privacy are important issues of technology adoption.”
4 of 4

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

  • Weak citizen involvement, poor governance, and threats of system failure are the main concerns hampering the development of sustainable smart cities.

    “While weak citizen involvement, poor governance, and threats of system failure are the main concerns hampering the development of sustainable smart cities (Aghimien et al. 2020)”

    From Blockchain technology in the smart city: A bibliometric review (2022) · cites this paper as Aghimien et al. 2020

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

Each contradiction between two passages listed here was confirmed by an independent check.

  • Environmental impact exceeds every component score

    Major

    The reported environmental impact of 3.87 exceeds all six environmental sub-attribute mean scores; the highest is 3.67. The described weighting of those components cannot produce a score above every component.

  • Overall membership result does not match its displayed calculation

    Minor

    The displayed products for the third membership category total 0.17764, which rounds to 0.18, not the reported 0.16. Substituting 0.18 into the paper's stated overall-impact calculation raises its reported 3.62 to about 3.68.

  • Governance membership differs between table and calculation

    Minor

    Table 3 gives the governance dimension's fifth membership value as 0.97, whereas the overall-membership calculation uses 0.26 for that same value.

3 of 3

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Research works printed but not linked: 9

  1. 2017, Economy bleeds as CBN pursues elusive naira stability, Punch Newspaper, 29
  2. 2017, How Nigeria's slow Internet speed affects economic growth, The Guardian Newspaper
  3. 2001, How to Research
  4. 2014, China's megacities: No two cities are the same, Gulf News Thinkers
  5. 2016, The challenges to Lagos becoming a smart city, Techpoint
  6. 2011, Smart City as Urban Innovation: Focusing on Management, Policy, and Context
  7. 2011, Fuzzy Multicriteria Decision-Making: Models, Methods and Applications
  8. 2011, Practical Research Methods
  9. United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, 2019, World Population Prospect 2019

Cited by

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Related

Authors
Aghimien, D. O., Aigbavboa, C., Edwards, D. J., Mahamadu, A.-M., Olomolaiye, P., Nash, H., & Onyia, M.
Affiliations
  • University of Johannesburg (ZA)
  • Birmingham City University (GB)
  • University of the West of England (GB)
  • University of Nigeria (NG)
ORCID
Venue
Smart and Sustainable Built Environment
Publisher
Emerald
Published
2020-10-02
Volume
11
Issue
3
Pages
405-421
ISSN
2046-6099 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1108/sasbe-06-2020-0092
OpenAlex
W3087914010
Semantic Scholar
7564144321a11e1846a8d45e2b5125ed0e565860
Cited by
94
References
72
Citations by year
2026: 11 · 2025: 8 · 2024: 21 · 2023: 10 · 2022: 18 · 2021: 25 · 2020: 1
FWCI
6.94
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Smart and Sustainable Built Environment (publishedVersion)
  • BCU Open Access Repository (Birmingham City University) (acceptedVersion)
  • UWE Research Repository (UWE Bristol) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
Topics
  • Physical Sciences › Engineering › Media Technology › Smart Cities and Technologies
  • Social Sciences › Urban Studies › Sustainable Urban and Rural Development
  • Physical Sciences › Engineering › Building and Construction › Construction Management and Sustainability
Keywords
smart city development, developing countries, Nigeria, fuzzy comprehensive evaluation, smart city challenges, governance, economic problems, social challenges, technical challenges, environmental problems, legal challenges, public infrastructure, built environment professionals

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