Beyond techno-utopia and its discontents: On the role of utopianism and speculative fiction in shaping alternatives to the smart city imaginary

Bina, Olívia; Inch, Andy; Pereira, Lavínia

doi:10.1016/j.futures.2019.102475

Cited by 78 publications

(57 citation statements)

References 50 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…It can be affirmed that the SC concept is 20 years old and it is in continuous progress [8]. The SC main objective would be to facilitate the planning, construction and intelligent services of the cities; however, it has been highlighted [4,[9][10][11][12] that this concept may be becoming so skeptical and futuristic that is being called "smart utopia" [8]. The work of Barbosa et al (2019) [13] highlights a path for sustainable digital transformation, pointing out some of these concepts and several complexities introduced when modern technologies are in the urban sphere.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Challenges for Connecting Citizens and Smart Cities: ICT, E-Governance and Blockchain

2020

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The way citizens interact with cities affects overall life quality. Their participation in social decisions is of paramount importance for helping on public decisions that affect governance, regulation and education. This interaction has the potential of being boosted within the scope of smart and digital cities, especially by recent advances in blockchain technology. This work introduces insights about how smart cities’ concepts and innovative technologies can help society to face daily challenges for improving citizens’ awareness. Digital technologies are able to drive social and economic development by employing Information and Communication Technology (ICT) to promote innovation. In this context, e-governance, in conjunction with disruptive concepts such as blockchain, is showing up as a fundamental tool for a decentralized democracy. This study reviews, discusses, raises open points and presents suggestions towards an efficient, transparent and sustainable use of technology, applied to future cities.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Challenges for Connecting Citizens and Smart Cities: ICT, E-Governance and Blockchain

2020

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…As part of this trend, there is an unresolved dispute about the axiological saturation of technology (va-lue-ladennes / value-neutrality of technology), in which an attempt is made to decide whether and in what sense technology (as an artifact) is saturated with values. An extreme form of this approach may be the techno utopism [46] -assuming limitless acceptance of technology.…”

Section: Advanced Technologiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Current Humanistic Values in Contemporary Urban Trends and Ideas

Blazy¹,

Łysień²,

Dudek³

2021

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The article discusses the role of humanistic values in the contemporary configuration of cities. Today's times put us in a privileged position as we can observe deep and clear changes happening very quickly. Visible changes are reflected not only in society and culture, but also in the space of developing cities, towns, and metropolises. While characterizing contemporary urban trends and ideas, the philosophical trends that contribute to them and the values on which they are based were discussed. Corrections are also shown, which usually start with slight dissonances and initially slight differences in the content of theses, and as a result lead to completely different views on the world. Contemporary determinants of postmodernism, deconstructivism, ecological ideas, sustainable development, social integration and participation, high-tech, digital, and smart city are discussed in detail.

show abstract

“…The assumption underlying this technocratic approach is that knowledge produced with the help of technology is considered “value-free” and “objective,” and will unbiasedly help governance. Furthermore, due to the failure to consider the urban setting, the place-based knowledge of local people can hardly be received and reflected in the formulation and production of policy content (Bina et al 2020 ; Cardullo and Kitchin 2019 ; Söderström et al 2014 ). In short, technocratic smart governance neglects the role of contextualization in shaping the governance process.…”

Section: Theoretical Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Such an approach focusing on digital and technology-driven innovation is often considered to be a universal solution to varied urban issues in different cities (Verrest and Pfeffer 2019 ). According to some authors, technocratic “smart” governance conceals those urban issues, conflicts, and controversies that cannot be represented by digital tools and data analytics (e.g., social discrimination and mental illness) (Bina et al 2020 ; Cardullo and Kitchin 2019 ; Hashem et al 2016 ; Rathore et al 2016 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Smart urban governance: an alternative to technocratic “smartness”

2020

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This paper argues for a specific urban planning perspective on smart governance that we call “smart urban governance,” which represents a move away from the technocratic way of governing cities often found in smart cities. A framework on smart urban governance is proposed on the basis of three intertwined key components, namely spatial, institutional, and technological components. To test the applicability of the framework, we conducted an international questionnaire survey on smart city projects. We then identified and discursively analyzed two smart city projects—Smart Nation Singapore and Helsinki Smart City—to illustrate how this framework works in practice. The questionnaire survey revealed that smart urban governance varies remarkably: As urban issues differ in different contexts, the governance modes and relevant ICT functionalities applied also differ considerably. Moreover, the case analysis indicates that a focus on substantive urban challenges helps to define appropriate modes of governance and develop dedicated technologies that can contribute to solving specific smart city challenges. The analyses of both cases highlight the importance of context (cultural, political, economic, etc.) in analyzing interactions between the components. In this, smart urban governance promotes a sociotechnical way of governing cities in the “smart” era by starting with the urban issue at stake, promoting demand-driven governance modes, and shaping technological intelligence more socially, given the specific context.

show abstract

Beyond techno-utopia and its discontents: On the role of utopianism and speculative fiction in shaping alternatives to the smart city imaginary

Cited by 78 publications

References 50 publications

Challenges for Connecting Citizens and Smart Cities: ICT, E-Governance and Blockchain

Challenges for Connecting Citizens and Smart Cities: ICT, E-Governance and Blockchain

Current Humanistic Values in Contemporary Urban Trends and Ideas

Smart urban governance: an alternative to technocratic “smartness”

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About