Published Paper Details:

Energy-efficient smart cities represent an integrated urban development model that leverages Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), the Internet of Things (IoT), and Artificial Intelligence (AI) to minimize energy consumption while maintaining or improving quality of life and economic productivity. In this review, the focus is on energy-oriented smart city architectures and strategies, including smart grids, intelligent buildings, renewable energy integration, demand-side management, and data-driven control of urban infrastructure such as lighting, transportation, and waste-to-energy systems. The paper synthesizes recent work on multi-agent and IoT-based energy management frameworks that enable distributed monitoring, forecasting, and optimization of energy flows across residential, commercial, and public sectors. Special emphasis is placed on initiatives under national smart city programs, with examples of large-scale deployment of smart meters, energy-efficient street lighting, rooftop solar projects, and waste-to-energy plants that contribute to reduced peak demand, lower emissions, and improved grid reliability. Based on a critical analysis of existing literature, pilot projects, and implementation experiences, the review identifies technical, regulatory, and socio-economic barriers to large-scale adoption of energy-efficient solutions and outlines future research directions for scalable, resilient, and citizen-centric energy management in smart cities.