Purpose The purpose of this study is to explore a sustainable hierarchical framework for the business environment in smart cities. However, this hierarchical framework must consider unnecessary attributes and interrelationships between criteria to capture the difference between smart cities and traditional cities. Design/methodology/approach Hence, the fuzzy set theory is used for screening unnecessary attributes, the decision-making and trial evaluation laboratory (DEMATEL) is applied to manage the complex interrelationships among the aspects and attributes and interpretive structural modeling (ISM) is used to divide the hierarchy and construct a hierarchical theoretical framework. Ultimately, this research is applied to develop a sustainable hierarchical framework of the business environment in smart cities. Findings The results show that traditional social problems are still at the core of business environment development in smart cities, new smart opportunities may be discovered, but they are still limited by traditional social factors, the economy is still the main aspect of the business environment and there are still obstacles to solving social problems with smart technologies. Originality/value This theoretical hierarchical framework aims to guide smart cities toward sustainability. This study also proposes creating a predictable business environment by improving administrative efficiency, transparency, social mobility and infrastructure services and cultivating new business opportunities with intelligent technology.
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