Smart cities are an innovative concept of sustainable urban design that gains popularity across the globe. Its core premise is the provision of smart educational, utility, traffic, waste and resource management, and health services with an advanced level of connectivity. The Internet of Things (IoT) is employed as the technology powering that connectivity and ensuring that the smart services operate based on intelligent data collection, sharing, and analysis. However, while IoT is actively explored today and exhibits numerous tech achievements, there are still pressing challenges for its practical implementation in the smart city architectures. This article explores the unresolved challenges such as impaired device interoperability, vulnerability of IoT grids to hacks, data security and privacy issues, as well as the slow transition of governments to smart services. The study also offers insights into the future directions of IoT research and development to empower smart city creation.

Smart cities are an innovative concept of sustainable urban design that gains popularity across the globe. Its core premise is the provision of smart educational, utility, traffic, waste and resource management, and health services with an advanced level of connectivity. The Internet of Things (IoT) is employed as the technology powering that connectivity and ensuring that the smart services operate based on intelligent data collection, sharing, and analysis. However, while IoT is actively explored today and exhibits numerous tech achievements, there are still pressing challenges for its practical implementation in the smart city architectures. This article explores the unresolved challenges such as impaired device interoperability, vulnerability of IoT grids to hacks, data security and privacy issues, as well as the slow transition of governments to smart services. The study also offers insights into the future directions of IoT research and development to empower smart city creation.