smart city

Introduction

The concept of "smart cities" has emerged as a significant paradigm in urban planning and development, aiming to leverage advanced technologies, particularly Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), to enhance the quality of life, economic competitiveness, and sustainability of urban areas.

Key Insights

Technological Integration and Urban Competitiveness:
- Smart cities utilize ICTs to improve urban performance, focusing on knowledge communication and social infrastructure to enhance competitiveness and quality of life .
Governance and Citizen Involvement:
- Effective governance frameworks are crucial for smart city initiatives, involving local governments, non-governmental agencies, and citizens to ensure sustainable development and better returns on investments .
- Citizen engagement and collaboration among various stakeholders are essential for the success of smart city projects.
Sustainability and Quality of Life:
- Smart cities aim to achieve sustainable development and improve the quality of life through innovative urban planning and the use of advanced technologies .
- Key areas of focus include environmental protection, social development, and fostering innovation.
Economic and Social Capital:
- The presence of a creative class, high levels of education, and robust social capital are positively correlated with the success and wealth of smart cities .
- Smart cities are seen as hubs of creative and entrepreneurial activities, leveraging human, infrastructural, social, and entrepreneurial capital to drive economic growth.
Challenges and Criticisms:
- Despite the potential benefits, smart city initiatives face challenges such as privacy and security issues, and the risk of exacerbating social inequalities .
- Some initiatives may prioritize economic promotion over addressing urban inequalities, leading to criticisms of being more rhetoric than reality.

Conclusion

Smart cities represent a forward-looking approach to urban development, integrating advanced technologies to enhance competitiveness, sustainability, and quality of life. Effective governance, citizen involvement, and a focus on social and economic capital are critical for their success. However, challenges such as privacy concerns and the risk of increasing social inequalities must be addressed to realize the full potential of smart cities.

Summary

Introduction

Key Insights

Conclusion

Sources and full results

Thinking about smart cities

Smart cities are a complex concept with potential and limitations, and this issue explores their goals, ethics, potential, and limitations in urban modernity.

Smart Cities in Europe

Smart cities in Europe are defined by a creative class, quality urban environment, education, and access to and use of ICTs for public administration, positively correlated with urban wealth.

Governing Smart Cities

Smart cities need a comprehensive governance framework to improve city life and economic development, but currently each city applies its own governance framework.

Identifying the results of smart city development: Findings from systematic literature review

Smart city development can enhance citizen involvement, protect the environment, foster innovation, and increase social capital, while also potentially causing privacy and security issues.

Introduction: Thinking through the politics of the smart city

Smart cities promise efficiency, convenience, and a smarter planet, but their future depends on balancing the needs of citizens with the needs of technology.

Current trends in Smart City initiatives: some stylised facts

Smart City initiatives are influenced by local context factors, such as economic development, urban structure, geographical location, and population density, affecting their digital path and implementation strategies.

Information centric services in Smart Cities

The proposed information-centric platform effectively supports Smart City ICT services, enhancing e-government, public administration, and safety applications.

A Smart City Is a Collaborative Community

Smart cities are collaborative communities, involving citizens, businesses, knowledge institutions, and municipal agencies, aiming to improve systems integration, efficiency, citizen engagement, and quality of life.

Smart cities in the innovation age

Smart cities can enhance urban performance and wealth, but success depends on space-specific characteristics and geographically differentiated policy actions.

The empty rhetoric of the smart city: from digital inclusion to economic promotion in Philadelphia

Smart city initiatives, such as Digital On-Ramps in Philadelphia, often fail to address urban inequalities, more focused on selling cities in the global economy than addressing actual urban inequalities.

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