Intelligent Transportation Systems for Evolving Cities

The development of intelligent transportation systems (ITS) in urban areas currently faces a critical misalignment between technological applications and the developmental stages of cities. Most studies on ITS to date have focused on solutions tailored to developed cities, which overlook the practical needs of growing cities. The above problem reduces the applicability of advanced technologies in resource-constrained contexts. To fill the gap, our study constructs a five-tier ITS evaluation framework for cities evolving from city 1.0 to 5.0. Through the synthesis of the literature and practical case analysis, a three-view research paradigm is proposed, “issue–science–engineering” (ISE). It integrates three key elements of ITS in urban areas: the infrastructure network, the transportation network, and the management network, which identify five distinct evolutionary stages of ITS for cities. By pinpointing common critical challenges across these stages, the study distills four priority research themes of ITS for academia: data-driven collaborative optimization, system resilience under complex disruptions, human-centered equity assurance, and incremental transitions toward sustainability. Furthermore, the study establishes a matching mechanism between technological pathways and city developmental stages, which could offer actionable insights for collaboration between industry and academia. Our study provides a decision-making framework for the development of ITS in cities at different stages. We hope that the study could contribute to a more balanced global advancement in this field

Information system · Intelligent decision support system · Intelligent transportation system · Smart Cities and Technologies · Traffic Prediction and Management Techniques · Transportation and Mobility Innovations