Smart Urban Wastewater Management for Developing Future Sustainable Cities

Rapid urbanization, population growth, industrial expansion, and climate change are placing unprecedented pressure on urban wastewater infrastructure worldwide. Conventional wastewater management systems are increasingly challenged by aging networks, inefficient treatment processes, water scarcity, energy consumption, and environmental pollution. The emergence of smart technologies, including Artificial Intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT), Big Data Analytics, Digital Twins, Geographic Information Systems (GIS), remote sensing, and automation, has created new opportunities for transforming wastewater management into an intelligent, sustainable, and resilient urban service. Smart urban wastewater management can improve operational efficiency, resource recovery, environmental protection, public health, and climate resilience while supporting the broader objectives of sustainable city development and circular economy initiatives. As cities strive to become smarter and more sustainable, innovative approaches to wastewater monitoring, treatment, reuse, and governance are becoming increasingly important.`This Research Topic aims to explore innovative technologies, methodologies, and management strategies that advance smart urban wastewater systems and contribute to the development of future sustainable cities. The collection seeks to bring together researchers, engineers, urban planners, policymakers, environmental scientists, and industry professionals working on emerging solutions for wastewater collection, treatment, monitoring, reuse, and resource recovery. Particular emphasis is placed on integrating digital technologies, intelligent decision-support systems, predictive analytics, automation, and sustainability assessment frameworks into urban wastewater management practices.Recent advances in AI-driven monitoring systems, IoT-enabled sensor networks, machine learning models, digital twins, cyber-physical systems, and smart treatment technologies have demonstrated significant potential for enhancing wastewater infrastructure performance. However, challenges remain regarding implementation, scalability, data integration, energy efficiency, regulatory compliance, resilience to climate change, and socioeconomic impacts. This Research Topic aims to address these challenges by fostering interdisciplinary collaboration and disseminating cutting-edge research that supports sustainable urban water management and smart city transformation.This Research Topic welcomes original research articles, review papers, case studies, technical notes, policy perspectives, and interdisciplinary contributions related to smart urban wastewater management. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:• AI and machine learning applications in wastewater management• IoT-enabled monitoring and real-time control systems• Smart wastewater treatment technologies and automation• Digital twins and cyber-physical wastewater infrastructure• Urban water reuse and resource recovery systems• Energy-efficient and low-carbon wastewater treatment processes• Circular economy approaches in urban water management• Climate-resilient wastewater infrastructure and adaptation strategies• GIS, remote sensing, and spatial analytics for wastewater systems• Sustainable urban drainage systems and stormwater integration• Data-driven decision support and predictive maintenance• Smart city governance, policy frameworks, and stakeholder engagement• Emerging contaminants and advanced treatment technologies• Public health and environmental sustainability considerations• Integrated urban water management and sustainable development goalsThe Research Topic particularly encourages interdisciplinary studies that combine engineering, environmental science, urban planning, data science, sustainability assessment, and policy research to develop innovative solutions for future sustainable cities. Topic editors: Shrikant Harle, Moharana Choudhury, Sushobhan Majumdar Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/84086/smart-urban-wastewater-management-for-developing-future-sustainable-cities