Digital Technologies for Advancing Cycling Infrastructure: A Systematic Literature Review

Cycling infrastructure, as a part of the smart mobility concept, plays a sound role in the urban development and enhancement of quality of life of urban residents. Moreover, the growing attention to the development of cycling paths in cities creates benefits for the local administrations and industries. The evolution of the “cycling” trend is embedded in academic discourse and embraces the discussion on its social, economic, and environmental impacts. However, despite the major attention to these issues in the high-quality academic literature, the authors observe fragmented discussion on the implementation of (novel) digital technologies in the cycling infrastructure in the smart cities. To fill this gap, the present research proposes a conceptual framework for the integration of digital technologies into cycling infrastructure within urban environments and corroborates these findings with a systematic literature review (SLR) of the topical journal articles published from 2020 to 2025 and retrieved from the Scopus database; the SLR follows Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA 2020) guidelines. The findings show an uneven implementation of digital technologies, with IoT-based and AI-based solutions emerging as the most relevant technologies for the development of cycling infrastructure. At the same time, the study highlights a gap in the current literature regarding the role of the private sector, which is still mainly presented as a beneficiary of rather than as an active contributor to innovation.