Page 14 - U4SSC Simple ways to be smart

1.2 Can every city be smart?

Many of the Smart Cities that are in the public eye are large cities that are economic hubs, or capital
cities. Smart City rankings consider the “world’s leading cities” (Global Power City Index), the "top
major global Smart cities" (Global Smart City Index) or the “capital metro regions” (IESE Cities in
Motion Index). “Smart city” is thus positioned as an aspirational title that can only be conferred
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on a few exceptional cities, and this idea is reinforced by programs like the competitive 100 Smart
Cities Challenge in India or the Gerakan 100 Smart City program in Indonesia. In reality, all cities
face challenges that need to be addressed using innovative approaches, new technologies and
the power of creative collaborations between multiple stakeholders. The challenges may be on a
different scale in smaller cities or be affected by local geographic, political or economic conditions,
but all cities need to become smarter to survive and thrive in a rapidly transforming world.

Technology-focused conceptions of the smart city as well as concerns to attract knowledge
workers or the “creative class” to cities, in the pursuit of economic growth, have been criticised
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for positioning Smart cities as exclusive, creating rarified enclaves for the elite and valuing some
people over others in the city. 16, 18

Questions have been raised as to whether smart city interventions do deliver their promised social
and environmental benefits.
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As a result, many cities, especially medium-sized and smaller cities and those in developing countries
that are far from being well-functioning, find that their smart city ambitions, if they exist at all, are
questioned. For such cities, becoming smart is often discouraged, particularly when resources are
constrained, and the high-level technical skills required to implement many smart city solutions are
lacking. Cities face criticisms for tackling smart city projects when there are more pressing needs
for housing, water or employment, and yet it is precisely these urgent and important needs that
should be addressed with innovative interventions that make the most of smart technology and
the creativity and insights of smart local people. Addressing such problems may or may not make
use of sophisticated technology, but they will require innovation to think of new ways to tackle
these most urgent problems.

This guide presents the idea that all cities can, and should, be smarter with low-cost interventions
that do not require extensive infrastructure or very high skill levels to implement. It assumes that
smart cities need to be fully inclusive, using the skills and serving the needs of all city stakeholders
through interventions that are people-centered and focus on addressing pressing local needs.
In much the same way as the circular economy is an opportunity to rethink production and
consumption to address environmental goals, so the transition to a smart city provides a unique
opportunity to rethink how a city functions and serves the people who live, work and play in it, with
the goal of reducing social and economic inequalities. 20

2 U4SSC: Simple ways to be smart