Smartening up a Developing City: Smart City and Urban Big Data Development Challenges in Tehran

Urban big data holds great potential for transforming the way cities are managed, providing insights that can optimize urban systems and improve quality of life. However, harnessing this potential requires overcoming significant challenges, particularly in developing countries like Iran. These challenges include insufficient infrastructure, fragmented data systems, financial constraints, and issues related to data privacy and security. This study aims to highlight the importance of urban big data in smart city management and identifies the key obstacles that must be addressed to enable its effective use. By understanding the unique challenges faced by cities in developing countries, this research aims to contribute to the development of strategies that can leverage urban big data for smarter, more sustainable cities.