Waste and the Urban Economy: A Semantic Network Analysis of Smart, Circular, and Digital Transitions

As cities confront rising populations and mounting environmental pressures, waste is rapidly transforming from a logistical liability into a strategic economic resource. In this article, we investigate the evolving nexus between waste and urban economic systems by analysing over 2,000 scientific publications sourced from Web of Science and Scopus. Using advanced semantic embedding and network analysis, we identify seven major research communities at the intersection of digital innovation, circular economy, and smart urban infrastructure. Through PageRank-based influence mapping, we highlight key contributions that shape each thematic cluster—ranging from AI-powered waste classification to blockchain-enabled traceability and IoT-driven logistics. Our results reveal a dynamic and interdisciplinary research landscape where waste valorisation is not only a sustainability imperative but also a driver of urban economic renewal. This study offers both a conceptual map and a methodological framework for understanding how cities can embed intelligence, efficiency, and circularity into waste systems as part of a broader transition to regenerative, data-informed urban economies.