Editorial introduction
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Much of our thinking around technology and the city is based around polarising paradigms. These tend to move between two different approaches; the technocratic and the social. On one hand the smart city agenda is underpinned by a vision of data-centred optimisation of urban systems, whilst on the other hand there is a focus on open-source, citizen driven approach based around ad-hoc practices and prototyping of counter-culture scenarios. To date, the technocratic paradigm has tended to dominate smart city projects and initiatives, which are often led by ICT companies. Many smart city...
Research article
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In this paper we explore the impacts, current and potential, that new technologies have on city planning and management, comparing the different ways in which those impacts can be harnessed for either the public good, for private profit or for a mixture of both. We argue that smart technologies do not necessarily yield a positive social product, and that the openness of information (in its different levels) plays an important part in maximizing the social product of new technologies applied to urban space. In the first part, we briefly discuss urban complexity...
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The concept of the smart city is emerging as a topic of interest. Since the implementation of technology in urban space it is becoming the present reality in many cities globally. This study investigates how the smart city project, known as The Smart City Búzios, in Brazil affects everyday life in terms of habits in, and relationships with, urban public spaces. The Smart City Búzios project involves the implementation of a smart grid infrastructure which purports to achieve energy efficiency for the city. The study also explores the different ‘smart’ mechanisms used in this city, and...
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Public and private investments are increasingly being directed towards the development of ICTs for the construction of more inclusive and connected communities. Labelled as Collective Awareness Platforms (CAPs) under the European Seventh Framework Program, these initiatives explore the possibility of tackling societal issues relying on digitally-mediated citizen cooperation. As their diffusion increases, it is important to critically reflect on the extent to which they can effectively trigger forms of engagement and sustainable collaboration within and through digital artefacts. Among...
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Through the provision of digital tools, government institutions aim to counter the growing alienation of citizens towards institutional politics and overcome traditional barriers of participation. However, as yet this approach has not shown the desired effects of increasing public participation in political decision-processes. In an attempt to encourage more citizens to make use of e-participation tools, some of these platforms hope to use the leverage and motivational effects of games by incorporating game-inspired elements. This research provides an overview of the current practice of...
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Urban technologies are increasingly designed to support ubiquitous computing, which now includes different forms of digitally-augmented interactions in public space. This shift is underpinned by the development and management of digital infrastructures in metropolitan cities – a paradigm often rhetorically dubbed ‘smart cities’. Because the cityscape is uneven and characterized by diversity, this reconfiguration could be seen as a welcome opportunity to renegotiate the issue of agency in relation to the new technologies embedded in the built environment. Since the Urban Screen project...
