Managing Smart City Linked Data with Graph Databases: An Integrative Literature Review
Anestis Kousis · 2023
The smart city paradigm is about a better life for citizens based on advancements in information and communication technologies, like the Internet of Things, social media, and big data mining. A smart city is a linked system with a high degree of complexity that produces a vast amount of data, carrying a very large number of connections. Graph databases yield new opportunities for efficient organization and management of such complex networks. They introduce advantages in performance, flexibility, and agility in contrast to traditional, relational databases. Managing smart city linked data with graph databases is a fast emerging and dynamic topic, highlighting the need for an integrative literature review. This work aims to review, critique, and synthesize research attempts integrating the concepts of smart cities, social media, and graph databases. The insights gained through a detailed and critical review of the related work show that graph databases are suitable for all layers of smart city applications. These relate to social systems including people, commerce, culture, and policies, posing as user-generated content (discussions and topics) in social media. Graph databases are an efficient tool for managing the high density and interconnectivity that characterizes smart cities.