This article reviews the state of the art in data-driven smart cities, focusing on how geospatial data can be effectively used to address urban challenges and drive innovation. It highlights success cases and remaining challenges in exploiting geospatial data-driven strategies, particularly when leveraging geographic information systems (GIS), satellites, and distributed sensors. The paper provides a more organized perspective of the area, discussing future development trends and supporting new research efforts in this area. It emphasizes the importance of geospatial data in empowering smart cities for a more sustainable future. Smart cities are urban environments that optimize resource utilization to enhance the quality of life for residents. They use advanced technologies to collect and analyze data, enabling informed decisions to improve efficiency, sustainability, and well-being. Smart cities offer digital solutions across various domains such as transportation, energy, healthcare, governance, and public services, creating an interconnected and intelligent urban ecosystem. Sustainability is a defining principle in the smart-city paradigm, with the goal of preserving and enduring resources while minimizing adverse impacts on the environment, society, and economy. Common urban challenges, such as traffic congestion, inadequate infrastructure, and energy inefficiency, have been addressed through smart-city services. Data-driven approaches have emerged as a central element to empower these approaches, with the era of Big Data and the proliferation of public and private geospatial information datasets opening up new possibilities for city planners, researchers, and policymakers. Smart-city services are increasingly designed to leverage such data in different scales, potentially better adapting to the particularities of the target cities. The article discusses the integration of geospatial data for smart cities, emphasizing the importance of accurate and comprehensive data for informed decision-making. It highlights the role of geospatial datasets in supporting disaster management, urban growth management, and sustainable planning. The paper also addresses the challenges of data accessibility and the importance of public-private collaborations in producing and managing geospatial data. It emphasizes the need for standardized formats and open-data repositories to enhance data usability and integration. The article concludes by discussing the potential of geospatial data in empowering smart cities for a more sustainable future.This article reviews the state of the art in data-driven smart cities, focusing on how geospatial data can be effectively used to address urban challenges and drive innovation. It highlights success cases and remaining challenges in exploiting geospatial data-driven strategies, particularly when leveraging geographic information systems (GIS), satellites, and distributed sensors. The paper provides a more organized perspective of the area, discussing future development trends and supporting new research efforts in this area. It emphasizes the importance of geospatial data in empowering smart cities for a more sustainable future. Smart cities are urban environments that optimize resource utilization to enhance the quality of life for residents. They use advanced technologies to collect and analyze data, enabling informed decisions to improve efficiency, sustainability, and well-being. Smart cities offer digital solutions across various domains such as transportation, energy, healthcare, governance, and public services, creating an interconnected and intelligent urban ecosystem. Sustainability is a defining principle in the smart-city paradigm, with the goal of preserving and enduring resources while minimizing adverse impacts on the environment, society, and economy. Common urban challenges, such as traffic congestion, inadequate infrastructure, and energy inefficiency, have been addressed through smart-city services. Data-driven approaches have emerged as a central element to empower these approaches, with the era of Big Data and the proliferation of public and private geospatial information datasets opening up new possibilities for city planners, researchers, and policymakers. Smart-city services are increasingly designed to leverage such data in different scales, potentially better adapting to the particularities of the target cities. The article discusses the integration of geospatial data for smart cities, emphasizing the importance of accurate and comprehensive data for informed decision-making. It highlights the role of geospatial datasets in supporting disaster management, urban growth management, and sustainable planning. The paper also addresses the challenges of data accessibility and the importance of public-private collaborations in producing and managing geospatial data. It emphasizes the need for standardized formats and open-data repositories to enhance data usability and integration. The article concludes by discussing the potential of geospatial data in empowering smart cities for a more sustainable future.