Viewpoint Smart cities: terrain for 'epic struggle' or new urban Utopias?

摘要

The idea of 'smart cities' increasingly dominates much of the discourse about future urban development although there is little agreement on definitions or derivations for the term. In the UK there is an abundance of encouragement for cities to strive to become 'smart', with Government (e.g. Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS)), state agencies (e.g. Future Cities Catapult (FCC) and Innovate UK) and foundations such as Nesta all urging cities to embrace the growing market opportuni- ties for collaboration with corporate technology providers. At the same time the term remains highly contested with a number of critiques warning of the dangers of civic leaders accepting the promises of global tech corporations, e.g. offering 'smart city in a box' solutions (IFTF, 2011; Townsend, 2013).