Smart cities
Smart Cities - Competitiveness & Participation
jointly organized by Lauder Business School, Vienna, the GoForeSight Institute, Ljubljana and Chuo University, Tokyo
Chairs:
Blaž Golob, L.C.M. Cambridge University, Director GFS Institute, Ljubljana
Hiroko Kudo, Chuo University, Tokyo
Elisabeth Kuebler, Institute of Competitiveness, Lauder Business School, Vienna
Topic
Since the 2000s the smart city concept has gained considerable popularity among urban planners, policy-makers, researchers, civil society, and innovative entrepreneurs. It promotes an integrated approach which, thanks to the intelligent use of technology, will enhance both inclusion and competitiveness of urban agglomerations.
EU initiatives and funding schemes provide support for individual cities advocating smart city policy (e.g. Copenhagen, Amsterdam, Vienna, Ljubljana, or Barcelona). Needless to say, the smart city concept is not limited to Europe or highly industrialized regions in general. On the contrary, it is gaining increasing popularity in Asia, Africa, and Latin America (cf. The Asia Africa Smart City Summit, which took place in Bandung, Indonesia in April 2015).
There are various sets of indicators for governance and management of cities available such as the Cities in Motion Index (CIMI) published by IESE Business School, ISO 37120 Sustainable development of communities – Indicators for city services and quality of life global standard, or European Green Capital city performance measurement tools. Those indicators enable comparisons between cities and also motivate city leaders to use digital technologies for smarter cities.
The proposed session focuses on innovative technology, democratic participation and profitability. While citizen engagement is a key element of most definitions of smart cities, innovative technology would also have great potential for facilitating participation. Innovative technology is used to steer participants to change their behaviour and lifestyle. The objectives of a smart city include making citizen participate in the co-production of public services. It thus acknowledges that urban success relies on a network of interwoven and interdisciplinary aspects. At the same time it places the emphasis on empirical links between technological innovation, economic competitiveness and citizens’ participation in public will-formation and wealth generation.
