As a micro-unit of the smart city, smart communities have transformed residents’ lives into a world that connects physical objects. Simultaneously, though, they have brought community safety problems. Most studies of the smart community have only focused on technical aspects, and little attention has been paid to community safety. Thus, this paper aims to develop an evaluation system for smart community safety, which will further promote community safety development. On the basis of identifying evaluation indicators, an evaluation framework was built to assess the level of smart community safety by a comprehensive CRITIC-TOPSIS method. Five smart communities in Shenzhen city were selected as cases to validate the feasibility of the evaluation framework. There was an indication that the indicator with the highest weight was the ‘building monitoring’, and the indicator with the lowest weight was the ‘emergency shelter guidelines’. In addition, the Yucun community showed the highest safety level among these five smart communities. Some suggestions for enhancing the safety level of the smart community are proposed, such as strengthening the training of community safety management talents, establishing good emergency protective measures, and encouraging residents to participate in the development of community safety. This research not only provides an innovative community safety assessment method; it also enriches the knowledge of smart community safety.

In recent years, sponge-style old community renewal (SOCR) has attracted considerable attention as an essential component of urban renewal and sponge city construction in China. As a new method of community governance, the government has increasingly valued residents’ participation in the SOCR. However, as a new concept, the SOCR has not been studied from the perspective of management, and there are few explorations of residents’ participation in the research field. Thus, this study aimed to explore the determinants of residents’ behavior toward participating in the SOCR of China based on the extended theory of planned behavior (TPB), which will further promote residents’ engagement in the SOCR. Data from 1657 respondents were analyzed using the structural equation model (SEM) to verify the direct or indirect relationship between potential variables. The results show that residents’ participation cognition (RPC), attitude (RPA), and intention (RPI) all significantly affect residents’ participation behavior (RPB). The RPC can not only have an indirect impact on the RPB by influencing the RPA but also have an indirect impact on the RPB through the RPA and the RPI. This research not only expands the application boundary of the TPB but also enriches the knowledge system of residents’ participation and the SOCR. Several practical implications for promoting residents’ participation are obtained in the context of the SOCR projects.

As a vital part of smart city development, smart community development is in full swing, aiming to improve residents’ sense of safety (RSS). Most research focuses on the technological innovation and infrastructure construction of smart communities; few studies have evaluated smart community development from the perspective of the RSS. Thus, this paper aims to propose a system of evaluation indicators for assessing the RSS of smart community development. After the relevant evaluation indicators were identified, an evaluation method was proposed using the CRITIC-FCE approach. To validate the feasibility of this method, 31 smart communities in China were selected in this study. The results showed the following: (1) The indicator of the highest weight was ‘cultural activities for the elderly’, while ‘overall design’ had the lowest weight, highlighting the importance of community services in enhancing the RSS of smart community development. (2) The selected cities and communities achieved a generally high level in the RSS of smart community development, and some differences were observed among them. (3) Emergency services and property services play an important role in enhancing the RSS of smart community development, with communities excelling in these areas, achieving higher overall rankings. Conversely, the score of pension service was relatively low, which is a common problem in the evaluation results, reflecting the shortcomings of the current smart community in providing pension service. Consequently, several strategies are suggested to enhance the RSS of smart community development, such as building an emergency information system based on advanced technology, establishing mobile and Internet of Things-based emergency assistance services for the elderly, and enhancing the maintenance of public facilities. This research enriches the knowledge of RSS and provides guidance for further research for the RSS of smart community development.

Smart community construction (SCC) is pivotal for urban modernization, yet extant research often neglects the residents’ perceptions of these initiatives, focusing predominantly on technological advancements. A hybrid evaluation method integrating the Entropy Weight Method (EWM) and PROMETHEE II was developed to quantify residents’ perceptions of SCC. Through the literature review and expert interview, the evaluation indicators for residents’ perceptions of the SCC were identified, leading to the development of an evaluation indicator system consisting of 5 dimensions and 25 indicators. The hybrid evaluation method that combines EWM and PROMETHEE II was then applied to quantify the level of residents’ perceptions of SCC across five communities in Shenzhen city of China, using data from 410 valid questionnaires. The results indicated that the Baolong community had the highest level of the SCC, while the Nanyuan community exhibited the lowest ranking. Sensitivity analysis confirmed the robustness of these results, thereby validating the evaluation process. Moreover, recommendations were proposed to enhance residents’ perceptions of smart community initiatives. This research not only introduces a novel evaluation method that expands the body of knowledge on the SCC and residents’ perceptions but also helps the government develop sustainable SCC strategies.

The smart city is recognized as a potent instrument for creating efficient urban environments and improving the quality of life of urban residents. However, there is an absence of research establishing a comprehensive evaluation model for the smart cities (SCs) and focusing on their spatiotemporal analysis. Thus, a comprehensive evaluation framework was developed and applied to 26 cities in the Yangtze River Delta Urban Agglomeration (YRDUA) in China from 2017 to 2020 to assess the smart city level (SCL) in China and analyze these cities’ spatial–temporal characteristics. The results indicated the following: (1) The overall SCL in the YRDUA has exhibited sustainable improvement, and the gap between cities is gradually narrowing. (2) The SCL of the YRDUA exhibits a higher SCL in the east and a lower SCL in the west of the YRDUA. The global spatial correlation of the SCL was random. Nantong, Hefei, Jiaxing, Zhoushan, Chizhou, Tongling, and Wuhu showed significant local spatial correlation. (3) The comprehensive evaluation framework is applicable for analyzing the SCs in China, and this framework can also be extended to other countries. Pertinent recommendations are put forth to enhance the SCL through the formulation of policies and fostering intercity collaboration. This research not only enriches the theoretical research on smart city evaluation but also clarifies the spatial–temporal characteristics of the SCs in China, thereby providing valuable insights that can foster sustainable smart city development.