Readiness of urban design projects for integration with big data. Case study: humanizing neighborhoods initiative—KSA

PurposeThe research aims at finding out the extent to which such urban transformation projects—in terms of their design components and aspects—contribute to providing big data (BD) with effective datasets, which are considered a key requirement in operating smart city solutions.Design/methodology/approachThe present research investigates the predisposition level of these projects for supporting the BD through one of the urban initiatives for humanizing neighborhoods in Al Riyadh city (KSA). The selected case is analyzed by mapping the functional performance of its design features with certain characteristics of BD.FindingsOne of the core conclusions is: Despite the readiness of the design components of these projects to provide high levels of integration with IoT and smart transformation, the level of application is lower than expected on account of the dearth of initial targets and strategies, especially the lack of a supporting environment, street facilities and security and safety datasets.Originality/valueThe answer—arrived at through both descriptive and analytical approaches—is expected to guide those who query the further key concept of smart applications—is the answer characterized as technologically based, or is the same based on human aspects?