Smart Cities: Dream or Nightmare?

A city skyline at night against a backdrop of a computer circuitry board. Are smart cities a good thing? Can we be sure where they are leading us? This promised land with sustainability, connectivity and optimisation, might have a human rights cost. An interesting point from Amnesty International. 

On the one hand we have a model for inclusive urban growth with jobs and green credentials. On the other, community groups say this as a contest between surveillance capitalism and democracy. This is the point of an article by two tech people at Amnesty International.

The authors discuss the growth of smart cities and the Internet of Things. The connectivity of devices and people and the wonders of inventions seems like Utopia. However, the amount of data collected poses a threat to human rights. Unless human rights are put at the centre of development plans for smart cities the Big Tech companies will be further empowered.

A key issue is that people who are marginalised are at risk of being further disadvantaged. The title of the article is Smart Cities: dreams capable of become nightmares. There are links to further articles on the topic.

London’s Smart City Strategy

The aim of a smart city strategy is to improve the wellbeing of residents, social life and economic welfare through technology based interventions. Although technology offers several benefits for more inclusive and liveable environments, there are also drawbacks.   

Inclusiveness is embedded in the London Smart City Strategy, but there is still room for improvement.

The results of a study of the strategy indicate that spatial inclusion is the major focus of the London smart city policy. A variety of assistive technologies promote inclusive housing, transport and health management systems. 

Improving citizen engagement through collaborations, increased transparency, and measures for preventing data misuse and misinterpretation will boost inclusiveness.

The London case study highlights the potential barriers in implementing inclusive strategies for smart cities in practice. The valuable lessons may provide good information for other cities. 

The title of the article is Inclusive Smart Cities: An Exploratory Study on the London Smart City Strategy.

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