Vol. 10 No. 2 (2026)

This issue of Smart Cities and Regional Development shows that the meaning of “smart” has clearly evolved. The articles gathered in Vol. 10 No. 2 (2026) move beyond a narrow focus on platforms, sensors, and digital tools, and instead examine whether innovation actually strengthens governance, participation, resilience, institutional capacity, and public trust. The volume includes contributions on fragile-state policing, citizen participation, Digital Twins, SME digitalisation, EU Digital Travel, agentic AI, smart education, and city marketing, revealing a coherent concern with how technology is governed and to what public end. 

A central message of the issue is that technology alone does not make governance smart. The study on Patna shows that digital tools and smart city programs remain limited when citizens lack awareness of local institutions and do not meaningfully engage with governance processes. The article on Georgia similarly shows that digital transformation depends not only on state support, but also on skills, access, inclusion, and long-term policy design. At the same time, the issue explores more advanced forms of digital governance. The article on Digital Twins and MIS integration argues for a shift from reactive administration toward predictive, coordinated, and resilience-oriented governance. Yet the studies on EU Digital Travel and agentic AI remind us that innovation also raises difficult questions concerning privacy, accountability, regulation, human oversight, and exclusion.

The volume also broadens the smart city debate by linking it to education, civic culture, and institutional legitimacy. The Ukrainian article on smart education emphasizes resilience, media literacy, and citizenship skills, while the study of the Afghan National Police collapse reminds us that no governance model can succeed where institutions lack cohesion, legitimacy, and local ownership. Taken together, this issue argues that the future of smart cities and regional development lies not in technology alone, but in the quality of the institutions, values, and civic capacities that shape its use.