Urbanization and cities of the future

World population is continuously and rapidly growing, urban areas representing the future. Citizens’ needs and requirements are becoming the focus points of urban development strategies. Therefore, developing sustainable strategies is essential for boosting the creation and development of more inclusive communities. This paper aims to present various ways in which urbanization is changing the world as we know it, smart urban planning contributing to smart urban areas’ development, formed by strong inclusive communities, giving as example different cities around the globe that have implemented successful projects. The methodology used to carry out this research is both bibliographic – opting to study and present the work of specialists in the field, authors from Romania and abroad, and empirical – formed by a case study on various smart cities around the world that have found ways to cope with the new change the world is facing today. The digital space is starting to be a very important issue in the evolution of smart cities, contributing at facilitating and improving the relationship between state and citizens. Although technology is a significant element, citizens and public institutions must be open to collaborate in order to find and implement the best solutions for solving communities’ problems