Inclusive innovation in smart cities: a systematic literature review of conceptual fragmentation, dominant themes, and research gaps

Introduction As cities increasingly adopt digital technologies under the banner of smart city development, questions of equity, inclusion, and democratic participation have become central to urban governance and policy debates. Yet, despite the growing prominence of inclusive innovation in smart city scholarship, the concept remains fragmented, inconsistently defined, and unevenly operationalized across theoretical and empirical research. Methods This study addresses this fragmentation through a systematic literature review of 116 peer-reviewed publications identified through searches of Scopus and Web of Science. Following PRISMA guidelines, the review combines bibliometric co-word analysis using VOSviewer with an abductive thematic synthesis to examine how inclusive innovation is conceptualized, operationalized, and contested across smart urban contexts. Results The analysis identifies five interrelated thematic clusters: (1) smart governance and civic participation, (2) digital inclusion and infrastructure, (3) equity, justice and social innovation, (4) environmental sustainability and urban resilience, and (5) knowledge co-production and urban innovation labs. Beyond thematic mapping, the synthesis reveals inclusive innovation as a multidimensional construct extending beyond technological access toward civic agency, distributive and procedural justice, and participatory knowledge production. Discussion Substantial fragmentation persists across these thematic clusters, particularly in relation to power asymmetries, intersectional exclusion, grassroots and Global South innovation, long-term institutionalization, and the integration of social and environmental justice. By integrating bibliometric mapping with interpretive thematic synthesis and complementary database validation, the study provides a more coherent conceptual architecture for inclusive innovation in smart cities and identifies priorities for more accountable, justice-oriented, and empirically grounded future research.