Sustainable Cities in the Light of ISO 37120 and 37101 Standards: A Systematic Review and the Contribution of a Theoretical Framework

This paper outlines a significant research gap on sustainable cities: the need for more comprehensive and strategic frameworks for managing sustainable cities, particularly those integrating interdisciplinary elements, dimensions, and global trends. The proposed framework delineates sustainable cities’ elements, dimensions, and trends based on ISO 37120, incorporating pillars linked to the triple bottom line and the Sustainable Development Goals 30 (SDGs). This study suggests specific research agendas, emphasizing theoretical and practical implementation within urban contexts. The methodological approach involved both bibliometric and content analysis techniques, using IRA-MUTEQ software 0.8 Alpha 7. This enabled the identification of key analytical categories and leading authors, with categories derived from lexical forms, similarity analysis, correspondence factor analysis (CFA), and descending hierarchical classification (DHC). Notably, the terms ‘ISO’ and ‘37120’ did not emerge as prominent lexical forms in the IRAMUTEQ results, despite their frequent mentions in the analyzed studies.