International Journal of Advanced Research in Computer and Communication Engineering

Abstract: Smart cities provide a wide range of options for dining, leisure, and essential services, but users often struggle to identify the most suitable choices due to generalized search results and scattered information across multiple applications. This leads to increased decision-making time and reduced convenience. To address this challenge, we developed Explore Hub, a lightweight real-time recommendation platform designed to help users discover restaurants, weekend destinations, and essential locations efficiently. The system integrates Google Places and Geocoding APIs with a React frontend and a Node.js Express backend to deliver accurate place details, interactive map navigation, comparison features, and favorites management using Local Storage. The prototype demonstrates that real-time API-based recommendations, combined with map-based visualization, can enhance user experience and improve decision-making without requiring complex backend infrastructure or machine-learning models.

Keywords: Smart Cities, Recommendation System, Google Places API, React, Node.js, Map Visualization.

Downloads: | DOI: 10.17148/IJARCCE.2025.141265