The development of technologies enables the application of the Internet of Things (IoT) in urban environments, creating smart cities. Hence, the optimal management of data generated in the interconnection of electronic sensors in real time improves the quality of life. The objective of this study is to analyze global research on smart cities based on IoT technology applications. For this, bibliometric techniques were applied to 1232 documents on this topic, corresponding to the period 2011–2019, to obtain findings on scientific activity and the main thematic areas. Scientific production has increased annually, so that the last triennium has accumulated 83.23% of the publications. The most outstanding thematic areas were Computer Science and Engineering. Seven lines have been identified in the development of research on smart cities based on IoT applications. In addition, the study has detected seven new future research directions. The growing trend at the global level of scientific production shows the interest in developing aspects of smart cities based on IoT applications. This study contributes to the academic, scientific, and institutional discussion to improve decision making based on the available information.

中文翻译：

---

基于物联网技术应用的智能城市：研究分析

技术的发展使物联网（IoT）在城市环境中的应用成为可能，从而创建了智慧城市。因此，实时地优化在电子传感器的互连中生成的数据的管理可改善生活质量。这项研究的目的是分析基于IoT技术应用的全球智慧城市研究。为此，将文献计量技术应用于与该主题相关的1232个文档（对应于2011-2019年），以获取有关科学活动和主要主题领域的发现。科学产量每年都在增加，因此上一个三年期已积累了83.23％的出版物。最杰出的主题领域是计算机科学与工程。在基于物联网应用的智慧城市研究开发中，已经确定了七条路线。此外，研究还发现了七个新的未来研究方向。全球科学生产水平的增长趋势表明，人们对基于物联网应用开发智能城市的兴趣浓厚。这项研究有助于学术，科学和机构讨论，以根据可用信息改进决策。