Abstract
The smart city is a concept that began to take shape at the end of the last century, emerging as a consequence of the real evolution of urban requirements. Whilst in bygone eras the need arose to equip cities with elements such as security, public health services, and public adornment, which were primordial for development of said cities, nowadays the—increasingly demanding—citizenry calls for a type of services related to the introduction of information and communications technology (ICT), aside from the cities' own evolution, as well as growth of the social and environmental capital. A smart city could be defined as a city which uses information and communications technology to ensure that both its critical infrastructure and the public services and components it offers are more interactive and efficient and that citizens can become more aware of them.
TopSmart Cities And Intelligence Applied To Cities
Utopia, Dystopia, E-Topia
One could say that a reflection on smart cities once again includes new utopian elements in the discourse of urbanization, elements based on the Platonic city, Aristotelian discourse when in Politics he refers to the urban utopia of Hippodamus, and naturally the great reflection on Utopia by Thomas More or Saint Augustine’s The City of God. Also Rabelais’, La Città del Sole by Tomaso Campanella and The New Atlantis by Francis Bacon. One may well say that the ideal city as a basic element of relations between subjects has been the object of permanent analysis, given the importance of the human being within the space he inhabits and the condition of territoriality which forms the basis of his decisions.
Today we are faced with complex, confused societies which do however demand public services and are avid when incorporating new technologies into cities in such a way that the efficiency attained has a direct and indirect influence on improving citizens’ quality of life.
On the one hand, this leads to complexity in management. There are two elements of progress in relation to the functioning of public administrations: the introduction of elements of town planning information allowing feedback on public actions to be obtained from the citizenry (one example is the Think Tank Platforms) and other elements designed to make public management more dynamic by applying the principles of governance or the incorporation of open data.
Contemporary society is contradictory: it wishes to include technology immediately, but at the same time human activity becomes useless and in turn generates dependence with regard to electronic systems, leading to a permanent feeling of dissatisfaction.
Key Terms in this Chapter
Accessibility: The concept includes the transport, the work of the microenterprises that provide services, the household appliances. In the case of the urbanism, the accessible buildings and infrastructure and the environment where people spend most of their time.
Public administration: The public administration serves the general interests objectively and acts in accordance with the principles of effectiveness, hierarchy, decentralization, deconcentration, and coordination, with full submission to the law and the Law.
Sustainable Development: Sustainable development give recognition to its economic, social and environmental dimensions that should be tackled together. Development must meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. A life of dignity for all within the planet's limits and reconciling economic efficiency, social inclusion, and environmental responsibility is at the essence of sustainable development.
Smart Land: The rural development policy aims to achieve the following objectives: fostering the competitiveness of agriculture; ensuring the sustainable management of natural resources, and climate action; achieving a balanced territorial development of rural economies and communities, including the creation and maintenance of employment.
Cohesion Policies: Cohesion policy is the European Union's strategy to promote and support the ‘overall harmonious development’ of its Member States and regions.