Citizens in the 'Smart City'

This book critically examines âsmart cityâ discourse in terms of governance initiatives citizen participation and policies which place emphasis on the âcitizenâ as an active recipient and co-producer of technological solutions to urban problems. The current hype around smart cities and digital technologies has sparked debates in the fields of citizenship urban studies and planning surrounding the rights and ethics of participation. It also sparked debates around the forms of governance these technologies actively foster. This book presents new socio-technological systems of governance that monitor citizen power trust-building strategies and social capital. It calls for new data economics and digital rights for a city founded on normative ideals rather than neoliberal ones. It adopts a normative approach arguing that a âreloadedâ smart city should foster citizenship as a new set of civil and social rights and the âcitizenâ as a subject vested with active and meaningful forms of participation and political power. Ultimately the book questions the utility of the âsmart cityâ project for radical municipalism proposing a technological enough but more democratic city an âintelligent cityâ in fact. Offering useful contribution to smart city initiatives for the protection of emerging digital citizenship rights and socially accrued benefits this book will draw the interest of researchers policymakers and professionals in the fields of urban studies urban planning urban geography computing and technology studies urban politics and urban economics. . Language: English