Smart Cities: How ISO 37106 And ISO 37123 Support Urban Transformation

 

Introduction

As urbanisation accelerates and cities evolve into more dynamic, connected environments, the concept of a “smart city” is gaining serious traction. Standards like ISO 37106 and ISO 37123 provide frameworks for sustainable, inclusive, efficient and resilient city planning and management — helping transform urban ambitions into practical, measurable actions.

What ISO 37106 & ISO 37123 Cover?

  • ISO 37106 guides development of a “Smart City — Guidance on establishing a smart-city framework” to align urban planning, governance, digital infrastructure, and community engagement.

  • ISO 37123 defines “Indicators for resilient and sustainable cities” — a set of metrics to measure performance across services such as transport, environment, waste management, energy, quality of life, governance and resilience.

  • Together, these standards help cities move beyond ad-hoc projects and build long-term, integrated smart-city ecosystems with measurable outcomes.

Benefits of Adopting These Standards for Cities & Municipalities

  • Clear, comparable metrics allow cities to track progress over time — on sustainability, mobility, inclusion, resilience and citizen well-being.

  • Better coordination between city departments: governance, infrastructure, utilities, social services and data/IT — resulting in integrated planning rather than fragmented efforts.

  • Improved resource management: smarter energy use, efficient waste and water management, and optimized transport and service delivery.

  • Enhanced transparency and accountability — citizens, regulators and stakeholders can see how the city performs based on defined benchmarks.

  • Supports long-term resilience and adaptability — helping cities plan infrastructure and services to cope with growth, climate change, emergencies and evolving citizen needs.

Common Challenges & Pitfalls for Smart-City Implementation

  • Treating smart-city initiatives as short-term technology projects rather than long-term governance and planning efforts.

  • Lack of data collection, inconsistent reporting or poor data quality — which undermines ability to track meaningful metrics defined by ISO 37123.

  • Fragmented implementation across city departments, leading to duplication of efforts and misaligned priorities.

  • Insufficient stakeholder engagement — without citizen participation and transparency, smart-city solutions may not meet actual needs.

  • Underestimating maintenance and scalability — pilot projects often remain isolated unless embedded in a city-wide integrated framework.

How Pacific Certifications Can Help Municipalities & Urban Developers?

Pacific Certifications supports cities and urban development authorities in interpreting ISO 37106 and ISO 37123, defining scope, aligning departments, setting up data-collection systems, establishing key indicators and preparing for audits or assessments. We help embed smart-city frameworks that are sustainable, transparent and outcome-oriented, rather than just technology-driven.

Read the full blog here: Smart Cities: How ISO 37106 And ISO 37123 Support Urban Transformation

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