As the importance of safety, efficiency, and sustainability in urban transportation becomes more apparent, intelligent transportation systems are changing and growing. Smart intersections play a crucial role in different parts of this context. Technologies such as Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X) communication, artificial intelligence, multi-sensor data fusion, and more are incorporated into these intersections to improve capacity and safety and reduce damage to the environment. This literature review aims to merge various recent works on advancing smart intersection technologies, their thematic application, methodological approach, and regional implementations. Highlighting adaptive traffic signal control, real-time data processing, and connected autonomous vehicle (CAV) integrations sheds light on the way the effectiveness of transportation in cities can be improved. At the same time, this study tackles questions of cybersecurity and standardization. This review provides insights for researchers, policymakers, and practitioners who aim to improve transportation systems' sustainability, fairness, and operability.