Smart cities, algorithmic technocracy and new urban technocrats

2019 ◽  
pp. 199-212
Author(s):  
Rob Kitchin ◽  
Claudio Coletta ◽  
Leighton Evans ◽  
Liam Heaphy ◽  
Darach Mac Donncha
Keyword(s):  
Interest Groups ◽  
Smart City ◽  
Final Section ◽  
Smart Cities ◽  
Epistemic Community ◽  
Advocacy Coalition

This chapter examines the technocracy of smart cities and the set of urban technocrats that promote and implement their use. It first sets out the new technocracy at work and the forms of technocratic governance and governmentality it enacts. The chapter then details how this technocracy is supported by a new smart city epistemic community of technocrats that is aligned with a wider set of smart city interest groups to form a powerful ‘advocacy coalition’ that works at different scales. In the final section, the chapter considers the translation of the ideas and practices of this advocacy coalition into the policies and work of city administrations. In particular, it considers the reasons why smart city initiatives and its associated technocracy are yet to become fully mainstreamed and the smart city mission successfully realised in cities across the globe.

scholarly journals Smart cities, urban technocrats, epistemic communities and advocacy coalitions

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rob Kitchin ◽  
Claudio Coletta ◽  
Leighton Evans ◽  
Liam Heaphy ◽  
Darach MacDonncha
Keyword(s):  
Smart City ◽  
Smart Cities ◽  
Epistemic Community ◽  
Advocacy Coalitions ◽  
Active Set ◽  
Advocacy Coalition ◽  
Smart Lighting ◽  
Last Mile ◽  
Urban Issues ◽  
Last Mile Problem

In this paper, we argue that the ideas, ideals and the rapid proliferation of smart city rhetoric and initiatives globally have been facilitated and promoted by three inter-related communities. A new set of ‘urban technocrats’ – chief innovation/technology/data officers, project managers, consultants, designers, engineers, change-management civil servants, and academics – many of which have become embedded in city administrations. A smart cities ‘epistemic community’; that is, a network of knowledge and policy experts that share a worldview and a common set of normative beliefs, values and practices with respect to addressing urban issues, and work to help decision-makers identify and deploy technological solutions to solve city problems. A wider ‘advocacy coalition’ of smart city stakeholders and vested interests who collaborate to promote the uptake and embedding of a smart city approach to urban management and governance. We examine the roles of new urban technocrats and the multiscale formation and operation of a smart cities epistemic community and advocacy coalitions, detailing a number of institutional networks at global, supra-national, national, and local scales. In the final section, we consider the translation of the ideas and practices of the smart city into the policies and work of city administrations. In particular, we consider what might be termed the ‘last mile problem’ and the reasons why, despite a vast and active set of technocrats and epistemic community and advocacy coalition, smart city initiatives are yet to become fully mainstreamed and the smart city mission successfully realized in cities across the globe. We illustrate this last mile problem through a discussion of plans to introduce smart lighting in Dublin.

scholarly journals Smart cities, epistemic communities, advocacy coalitions and the `last mile' problem

2017 ◽  
Vol 59 (6) ◽  
Author(s):  
Rob Kitchin ◽  
Claudio Coletta ◽  
Leighton Evans ◽  
Liam Heaphy ◽  
Darach MacDonncha
Keyword(s):  
Smart City ◽  
Smart Cities ◽  
Epistemic Community ◽  
Epistemic Communities ◽  
Advocacy Coalitions ◽  
Advocacy Coalition ◽  
Smart Lighting ◽  
Last Mile ◽  
Last Mile Problem

AbstractWe argue that the ideas, ideals and the rapid proliferation of smart city rhetoric and initiatives globally have been facilitated and promoted by three inter-related communities: (i) `urban technocrats'; (ii) a smart cities `epistemic community'; (iii) a wider `advocacy coalition'. We examine their roles and the multiscale formation, and why despite their influence they encounter a `last mile problem'; that is, smart city initiatives are yet to become fully mainstreamed. We illustrate this last mile problem through a discussion of plans to introduce smart lighting in Dublin.

scholarly journals Citizenship, Justice and the Right to the Smart City

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rob Kitchin ◽  
Paolo Cardullo ◽  
Cesare Di Feliciantonio
Keyword(s):  
Social Justice ◽  
Social Science ◽  
Social Relations ◽  
Smart City ◽  
Final Section ◽  
Ethical Issues ◽  
Smart Cities ◽  
The Public ◽  
Critical Social Science ◽  
The Right

This paper provides an introduction to the smart city and engages with its idea and ideals from a critical social science perspective. After setting out in brief the emergence of smart cities and current key debates, we note a number of practical, political and normative questions relating to citizenship, justice, and the public good that warrant examination. The remainder of the paper provides an initial framing for engaging with these questions. The first section details the dominant neoliberal conception and enactment of smart cities and how this works to promote the interests of capital and state power and reshape governmentality. We then detail some of the ethical issues associated with smart city technologies and initiatives. Having set out some of the more troubling aspects of how social relations are produced within smart cities, we then examine how citizens and citizenship have been conceived and operationalised in the smart city to date. We then follow this with a discussion of social justice and the smart city. In the final section, we explore the notion of the ‘right to the smart city’ and how this might be used to recast the smart city in emancipatory and empowering ways.

SenCity – Evaluating Users’ Experiences of Intelligent Lighting for Well-Being in Smart Cities

2018 ◽  
pp. 60-67
Author(s):  
Henrika Pihlajaniemi ◽  
Anna Luusua ◽  
Eveliina Juntunen
Keyword(s):  
Case Studies ◽  
Smart City ◽  
Smart Cities ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Evaluation Methods ◽  
Data Analyses ◽  
Sense Of Security ◽  
System Data

This paper presents the evaluation of usersХ experiences in three intelligent lighting pilots in Finland. Two of the case studies are related to the use of intelligent lighting in different kinds of traffic areas, having emphasis on aspects of visibility, traffic and movement safety, and sense of security. The last case study presents a more complex view to the experience of intelligent lighting in smart city contexts. The evaluation methods, tailored to each pilot context, include questionnaires, an urban dashboard, in-situ interviews and observations, evaluation probes, and system data analyses. The applicability of the selected and tested methods is discussed reflecting the process and achieved results.

Systematization of the smart city civil engineering infrastructure

2020 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 765-779
Author(s):  
E.V. Popov ◽  
K.A. Semyachkov ◽  
K.V. Zhunusova
Keyword(s):  
Smart City ◽  
Process Management ◽  
Smart Cities ◽  
Digital Technologies ◽  
Urban Infrastructure ◽  
Infrastructure Development ◽  
Economic Innovation ◽  
Civil Engineering Infrastructure ◽  
Functional Transformations

Subject. This article explores the basic elements of the engineering infrastructure of smart cities. Objectives. The article aims to systematize theoretical descriptions of the engineering infrastructure of a smart city. Methods. For the study, we used a logical analysis and systematization. Results. The article highlights the main areas of infrastructure development of smart cities. Conclusions. Improving process management mechanisms, optimizing urban infrastructure, increasing the use of digital technologies, and developing socio-economic innovation improve the quality of the urban environment in a digitalized environment. And improving the efficiency of urban planning and security, studying its properties and characteristics, and forming an effective urban information system lead to its functional transformations.

YOUTH EXPECTATIONS OF SMART CITY LIVING: AN IMPORTANCE- PERFORMANCE ANALYSIS OF YOUNG RESIDENTS’ PERSPECTIVES OF CITY GOVERNMENT

2017 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 118-128
Author(s):  
Jason Cohen ◽  
Judy Backhouse ◽  
Omar Ally
Keyword(s):  
Performance Analysis ◽  
Young People ◽  
Smart City ◽  
Smart Cities ◽  
City Government ◽  
Diagnostic Tools ◽  
City Management ◽  
Bottom Up ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
The City

Young people are important to cities, bringing skills and energy and contributing to economic activity. New technologies have led to the idea of a smart city as a framework for city management. Smart cities are developed from the top-down through government programmes, but also from the bottom-up by residents as technologies facilitate participation in developing new forms of city services. Young people are uniquely positioned to contribute to bottom-up smart city projects. Few diagnostic tools exist to guide city authorities on how to prioritise city service provision. A starting point is to understand how the youth value city services. This study surveys young people in Braamfontein, Johannesburg, and conducts an importance-performance analysis to identify which city services are well regarded and where the city should focus efforts and resources. The results show that Smart city initiatives that would most increase the satisfaction of youths in Braamfontein  include wireless connectivity, tools to track public transport  and  information  on city events. These  results  identify  city services that are valued by young people, highlighting services that young people could participate in providing. The importance-performance analysis can assist the city to direct effort and scarce resources effectively.

Smart Cities: Necessity and Development Strategies

2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 52-58
Author(s):  
L. V. Shkvarya ◽  
A. S. Semenov
Keyword(s):  
Economic Development ◽  
Rapid Growth ◽  
Smart City ◽  
Smart Cities ◽  
First Century ◽  
Quality Improvements ◽  
Urban Settlement ◽  
Life Problems ◽  
Socio Economic Development ◽  
High Technologies

In the twenty-first century different countries and cities are increasingly seeking to introduce quality improvements in their livelihoods, generate for its residents an environment that is called “smart city” on the basis of high technologies. The article shows that the emergence of a “smart” city is an objective necessity due to the rapid growth of cities in the present and in the future. “Smart” city is designed to solve life problems in cities and create conditions for the socio-economic development of cities and countries, and for a favorable stay of residents on its territory. There are a number of strategies to implement the concept of “smart”, but it is important for each urban settlement to develop its own approaches and projects.

Financing Smart Cities’ Development: Doran’s Concept of the Project Universe

2020 ◽  
pp. 50-62
Author(s):  
K.S. Teteryatnikov ◽  
S.G. Каmolov ◽  
A.A. Pyatova
Keyword(s):  
South Korea ◽  
Smart City ◽  
Smart Cities ◽  
Public Private Partnership ◽  
Project Financing ◽  
Private Partnership ◽  
Model Based ◽  
Project Model ◽  
Financing Model

The article is meant to analyze various strategies and models for the development of smart cities, as well as the concept of project financing of smart cities, proposed by Pietro Doran, one of the founding partners of the world’s first smart city built from scratch in South Korea — Songdo. The authors believe that Songdo’s financing model, based on P. Doran’s Project Model can be considered as an effective way to attract investment in greenfield projects for the development of «smart cities» in Russia on the basis of public-private partnership.

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