Blockchain for Smart Cities: A Business Perspective from Pune
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17697/ibmrd/2026/v15i1/174506Keywords:
Blockchain, Smart Cities, Retail Entrepreneurs, Point of Sale, Innovation.Abstract
Global urbanisation brings the need for more effective, secure, and sustainable urban systems. Smart Cities have been a strategic consideration that uses technology such as Artificial Intelligence (Al), Internet of Things (loT), and Blockchain to improve liveability, governance, and sustainability. Of these technologies, blockchain technology also has tremendous potential, as it creates opportunities for transparency, security, and decentralisation in urban processes. This research investigates blockchain adoption in smart cities from a business perspective, including the case of Pune, one of the top-ranked smart cities in India. This study by authors integrates a literature review of the urgency of blockchain and cities, and a primary research instrument to explore the perceptions of retail entrepreneurs in Pune's Aundh and Baner areas. The research uses hypothesis tests to assess the perceptions of awareness of blockchain, readiness for blockchain, openness for blockchain, and factors having a significant relationship to the size of their business.
The analysis suggests retail outlet size is not significant for awareness, while retail outlets in Baner are more ready to adopt blockchain. The retail entrepreneurs are also generally positive and have a high positive correlation with willingness to adopt blockchain technology if they use a digital Point of Sale (POS) system. These mostly exploratory studies demonstrate the potential of targeted awareness campaigns, pilot projects, and inclusive policy frameworks to assist with blockchain integration.
This study also includes actionable recommendations to assist participating stakeholders on how to enable localised digital transformation in smart city ecosystems.
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