It is widely known that all places on earth are a combination: cities and islands. Islands surrounded by mainly dry areas, sea and even greenery. Contrastively, cities are characterized by their dense buildings. Hence, it is common for  people in cities to seek a green place: trees and water. It is said that green places  have always had a soothing effect on people’s mental health. Sustainability is a must for a healthy planet: the environment: islands and cities [including villages]. However, has anyone ever wondered why the term ‘sustainability’ begins to gain ground as a means of creating a better life to live on this planet?

Firstly,  it is important to define what sustainability really is. According to Cambridge dictionary: the quality of causing little or no damage to the environment and therefore able to continue for a long time. In simple words sustainability requires a clean environment, literally and metaphorically and thus verifies people’s life mainly on earth. In this case, it concerns the geography of earth: cities and islands. It is known that in a sustainable ecosystem all the species, both flora and fauna flourish, hence that has a positive impact on people’s lives. But can we claim that we live in a sustainable environment nowadays? Assuming the answer is negative, how much effort does it take to create a sustainable environment? Sustainability entails a healthy environment where all living beings live and reproduce. For the purpose of transforming our modern cities and islands into innovative sustainable environments we need to think in a smart way! Smartification is used for noting the process of modifying the environment into a healthier one. Although the term “smartification” refers to the same techniques, results, concepts, software, data etc. applied to cities or islands, their application in the smartification process may be quite different when applied on an island. That is, a set of cities/villages closely related and somehow isolated from the rest of the world (connected only via coastal/sea and air routes) and, maybe, surrounded by a cleaner “blue” sea, are somehow “different” from a city.

Since smartification is in the limelight, sustainability seems related to it. In the process of smartification we need to decode ‘smart cities’ as well as ‘smart islands’. These new terms are perhaps related to the new image of both cities and islands, as sustainable. Specifically, according to the article ‘SMART SUSTAINABLE CITIES vs SMART SUSTAINABLE ISLANDS’ the meanings of smart cities and smart islands are relevant to sustainability. So, the concept of smart city is complicated; “Smart City” is something relatively new in scientific literature. It has emerged, more or less, in the last two decades (Albino, 2015) and it deals mostly with the economic and social aspects of a city in a sustainable urban environment (Winters, 2011; Manville, 2014). As a concept, it has been proliferated in many different sectors of a city, which has led to different definitions of it, with the term “smart” to be often substituted with other terms such as “intelligent” or “digital”. Urban policies, spatial planning, and strategic programs of a city are a few key factors that Public Agencies or Municipal Authorities develop targeting the “smartness” of the city and focusing on the people’s and societies’ needs. A Smart City should respond to their citizens' needs through sustainable solutions. Based on this argument and relation between the two terms, “smart” and “sustainability”, have been used in literature through the combined term “Smart Sustainable Cities”. However, smart is distanced with the word ‘sustainable’. This evidence lies in the following reasons, with reference to the article: a) a smart city may not be a sustainable city b) a sustainable city may not be a smart city (e.g. The sustainability achieved without the smart solutions) c) sometimes smartification and sustainability are contradictory forces which must be conciliated d) the smartification of a city does not concern only the information of a number of procedures but rather the smart solution to specific problems.

Likewise, the concept Smart Island seems more closely connected with sustainability. The term “Smart Island” appears in the project “Smart Web services for Mediterranean Islands” (GISIG, 2014) as: “Smart Islands is an integration platform developed through the ICT PSP call. The term “sustainable” means that the entire island follows all the good practices to preserve the sustainable development and the protection of the environment, natural and urban, including the cultural heritage in a holistic and integrated manner. Its “smartification” should not concern just a city or a village but the entire island. To put it succinctly, a smart island is a self-contained territory that pursues climate resilience by integrating climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies. It aims to achieve sustainable economic development and high quality of life through smart management of infrastructure, resources, and the environment, supported by ICT, innovative governance, and inclusive financing models.

Namely, the key characteristics of a "smart island" should include: smart energy/environment, smart transport/mobility, smart economy, smart building/ infrastructure, smart technology smart healthcare/safety, smart people/citizen, smart living, smart governance, (IEEE, 2017), (BD, 2017) and (Sarwant, 2014). Similarly, an initiative of a sustainability index [Socrates] will be completed including all the parameters for ‘crafting’ a smart island. Clear island borders can artificially encapsulate green space within the conceptualization of the city: For instance, the much-promoted but little-achieved Dongtan Eco-City on Chongming Island sought to enhance nearby Shanghai’s sustainable credentials by integrating into the city’s scope that which had previously been regarded as wild nature. This tendency for island smart eco-cities to encapsulate nature areas as a means of downscaling environmental value has an insidious side effect: It devalues the apparent environmentally protective function of traditional dense urbanism. A smart eco-city on an island may have dire consequences on the environment rather than being sustainable.    

To take it a step further, sustainability on the islands is determined by certain parameters. To begin with there are the six following factors on which sustainability is founded. The first and foremost is the ‘environmental crises’, characterized by a move from focused incidents (e.g. oil spills) to global issues (habitat loss, global warming, ozone depletion). Secondly, resource depletion concerns  the sustainability of growth-based economic policies reliant upon finite resources. Thirdly, the north–south divide—growing north–south disparities are worth noting. Furthermore, the rest of the factors: globalization, post-modernist skepticism, and transnational institutional frameworks, have collectively shaped the sustainability discourse by promoting market-driven integration, challenging traditional scientific and political authority, and providing a platform rooted in capitalist ideologies, as stated in the article ‘What is small island sustainable development about?’. 

Moreover, a step to implement measures on the islands is the Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA). It contributes to the integration of environmental, social and economic sustainability aspects into strategic decision processes. It was specifically designed to respond to this challenge, and for that reason, it may also play a fundamental role in small islands. SEA is a framework, which may improve the decision-making process, focusing on key sustainability constraints, assessing alternatives and promoting the participation of different stakeholders (Eggenberger and Partidario, 2000; Joao, 2005; Therivel et al., 1992 ). It is context specific and needs to be developed taking this into account (Hilding-Rydevik and Bjarnadottir, 2007 ). Concerning the research in the article ‘Sustainability approaches and strategic environmental assessment in small islands: An integrative review’, three key arguments to enhance sustainability in small islands emerged: (a) change in decision-making paradigm, (b) good governance and community empowerment and, (c) resilience. Decision-making patterns need to be transparent with regard to sustainability measures to be taken. Legal frameworks should be developed for clarity and transparency. Similarly, good governance and community empowerment are essential for sustainability in island contexts, as they enhance decision-making, leadership, and institutional frameworks while fostering community awareness and participation. Last but not least, resilience, the ability to withstand and recover from various pressures like economic shocks and climate change.

A conclusion to be drawn, sustainable cities and islands are initiatives that aim to a clearer environment. In the process of implementing such visions, governments are proponents. A sustainable environment  is vital for both humanity and the planet. Since smart cities have become a trend while smart islands are still under organization and future implementation, people still have a chance to save the planet. Smart cities residence is a step for humanity to take action for a healthier lifestyle.

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