ITU‐T's Technical Reports and Specifications 55 2.3 Need for a comprehensive definition As discussed in the previous subsection, there is a clear need for a standardized definition for a \"smart sustainable city\". The process for developing a new definition will clearly pave the way for a more defined structure not only for the definition of the term but also in relation to ICT infrastructure, KPIs, metrics and policies for smart sustainable cities as viewed by ITU. Another aspect which is also critical is that within ITU‐T, there are multiple study groups involved with topics which overlap or intersect with smart sustainable cities. Data security (SG17) as well as other SDOs such as ISO, BSI, ANSI, IEC, and IEEE are working on smart sustainable cities as well, albeit through a different lens and based on a different framework. 3 Observations from literature The following preliminary observations are made from the literature describing smart and sustainable cities. The definition of a smart sustainable city depends on the lens or the viewpoint taken (refer to Annex 1 for list of definitions and features analysed). This is important to note, since this approach will provide an insight into why and what certain attributes are important. There are many subjective viewpoints of what a smart sustainable city is and these can be segmented into the following categories: Attributes Themes Infrastructure A combination of smartness/intelligence in an urban environment with sustainability as a key backdrop is the basis for this Technical Report. Note that this Technical Report is not a recommendation document for best practices but a description of what is prevalent in the open literature. 3.1 Attributes The following attributes appear consistently across the literature in terms of describing a smart sustainable city: Sustainability – This is related to city infrastructure and governance, energy and climate change, pollution and waste, and social, economics and health. Quality of life – Quality of life (QoL) is a recurrent theme. One of the aims of SSC would be to improve QoL in terms of emotional as well as financial well‐being. Urban aspects – This includes multiple aspects and indicators including: technology and infrastructure, sustainability, governance and economics. Intelligence or smartness – A \"smart\" city exhibits implicit or explicit ambition to improve economic, social and environmental standards. Commonly quoted aspects of smartness include smart economy, smart people, smart governance, smart mobility, smart living and smart environment. 3.2 Core themes There are four core themes for a smart sustainable city: Society – The city is for its inhabitants (i.e. the citizens). Economy – The city must be able to thrive – jobs, economic growth and finance, etc.