What do we mean by smart cities? What lies behind the plethora of different views and examples? Going against those who address these issues by conceptualising cities (resilient, living, reflexive, optimised, etc.) and striving to describe their potential, this paper opts instead to focus on the trigger for this movement: data and the new means available for its production, organisation and utilisation to support cities.
Highlights:
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QUESTIONING THE POTENTIAL OF SMART CITIES
The profusion of optimistic views, success stories and marketing operations singing the praises of smart cities call for clarification of the challenges of this project and the conditions for its success. The aim of this study is to lift this veil using data, the building blocks of smart cities, in order to better understand the key questions that condition (or will condition) the contribution of digital technologies to urban sustainability.
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SMART CITIES AND SUSTAINABLE CITIES: COMMON CHALLENGES
In many cases, the obstacles to be overcome by these smart city initiatives have already been experienced by sustainable city projects and stakeholders: articulating technological innovation and changes in usage and lifestyles; breaking down data silos and fostering cross-cutting, intersectoral approaches; organising citizen participation; and developing a framework to enable upstream innovation between private and public partners.
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DIGITAL TECHNOLOGIES ARE TRANSFORMING THE URBAN FABRIC
Digital technology is a fundamental trend and the changes it will bring to the urban fabric can already be identified: public service concessions, governance, planning and urban development methods, cross-cutting city management, etc. However, there are many challenges and conditions for this change, concerning both the reconfiguration of the roles played by urban fabric operators (planners, producers, users) and implementation (legal framework, economic model, political will).
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DEBATES FOCUS ON PERSONAL DATA AND CITIZEN PARTICIPATION
The issue of privacy and personal data is critical, and citizens/users play a central role. Hence the importance of gaining a better understanding not only of what is required in terms of regulation, but also of the impacts of future legal frameworks on smart city projects.
