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Smart cities: moving beyond urban cybernetics to tackle wicked problems

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  • Robert Goodspeed

Abstract

This article makes three related arguments. First, that although many definitions of the smart city have been proposed, corporate promoters say a smart city uses information technology to pursue efficient systems through real-time monitoring and control. Second, this definition is not new and equivalent to the idea of urban cybernetics debated in the 1970s. Third, drawing on a discussion of Rio de Janeiro’s Operations Center, I argue that viewing urban problems as wicked problems allows for more fundamental solutions than urban cybernetics, but requires local innovation and stakeholder participation. Therefore the last section describes institutions for municipal innovation and IT-enabled collaborative planning.

Suggested Citation

  • Robert Goodspeed, 2015. "Smart cities: moving beyond urban cybernetics to tackle wicked problems," Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 8(1), pages 79-92.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:cjrecs:v:8:y:2015:i:1:p:79-92.
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1093/cjres/rsu013
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    Cited by:

    1. Matthew Tenney & Renee Sieber, 2016. "Data-Driven Participation: Algorithms, Cities, Citizens, and Corporate Control," Urban Planning, Cogitatio Press, vol. 1(2), pages 101-113.
    2. Kummitha, Rama Krishna Reddy, 2019. "Smart cities and entrepreneurship: An agenda for future research," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 149(C).
    3. Adrian Buttazzoni & Marta Veenhof & Leia Minaker, 2020. "Smart City and High-Tech Urban Interventions Targeting Human Health: An Equity-Focused Systematic Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(7), pages 1-23, March.
    4. Abigail Friendly & Kristine Stiphany, 2019. "Paradigm or paradox? The ‘cumbersome impasse’ of the participatory turn in Brazilian urban planning," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 56(2), pages 271-287, February.
    5. Federico Caprotti, 2019. "Spaces of visibility in the smart city: Flagship urban spaces and the smart urban imaginary," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 56(12), pages 2465-2479, September.
    6. Ezra Ho, 2017. "Smart subjects for a Smart Nation? Governing (smart)mentalities in Singapore," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 54(13), pages 3101-3118, October.
    7. Karadimitriou, Nikos & Magnani, Giacomo & Timmerman, Richard & Marshall, Stephen & Hudson-Smith, Andy, 2022. "Designing an incubator of public spaces platform: Applying cybernetic principles to the co-creation of spaces," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 119(C).
    8. Boeing, Geoff, 2021. "Spatial information and the legibility of urban form: Big data in urban morphology," International Journal of Information Management, Elsevier, vol. 56(C).
    9. Boeing, Geoff, 2020. "Exploring Urban Form Through Openstreetmap Data: A Visual Introduction," SocArXiv rnwgv, Center for Open Science.
    10. Lyons, Glenn, 2018. "Getting smart about urban mobility – Aligning the paradigms of smart and sustainable," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 115(C), pages 4-14.
    11. Amy Glasmeier & Susan Christopherson, 2015. "Thinking about smart cities," Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 8(1), pages 3-12.
    12. Christian Anderson & Jin-Kyu Jung, 2023. "For a Cooperative “Smart” City Yet to Come: Place-Based Knowledge, Commons, and Prospects for Inclusive Municipal Processes From Seattle, Washington," Urban Planning, Cogitatio Press, vol. 8(2), pages 6-16.
    13. Wang, Ke-Liang & Jiang, Wei & Miao, Zhuang, 2023. "Impact of high-speed railway on urban resilience in China: Does urban innovation matter?," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 87(PB).
    14. Rice, John & Martin, Nigel, 2020. "Smart infrastructure technologies: Crowdsourcing future development and benefits for Australian communities," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 153(C).
    15. Steele, Amanda J. Harker & Bergstrom, John C., 2018. "Tackling Wicked Problems in Applied Economics: An Application to the Bears Ears National Monument," 2018 Annual Meeting, August 5-7, Washington, D.C. 274843, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    16. Solis, Miriam & Bashar, Samira Binte, 2022. "Social equity implications of advanced water metering infrastructure," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    17. Alina-Ramona Butnariu & Procopie-Florin Gusul, 2021. "Public Innovation in Romania: Financing Smart City Initiatives Using European Funds in Small and Medium Sized Cities," Ovidius University Annals, Economic Sciences Series, Ovidius University of Constantza, Faculty of Economic Sciences, vol. 0(2), pages 86-94, December.
    18. Huaxiong Jiang & Stan Geertman & Patrick Witte, 2020. "Avoiding the planning support system pitfalls? What smart governance can learn from the planning support system implementation gap," Environment and Planning B, , vol. 47(8), pages 1343-1360, October.
    19. Trencher, Gregory, 2019. "Towards the smart city 2.0: Empirical evidence of using smartness as a tool for tackling social challenges," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 142(C), pages 117-128.
    20. Lim Seng BOON & Jalaluddin Abdul MALEK & Mohd Yusof HUSSAIN & Zurinah TAHIR, 2020. "Understanding the trends and characteristics of smart urbanism across continents," Smart Cities and Regional Development (SCRD) Journal, Smart-EDU Hub, vol. 4(1), pages 23-35, March.
    21. Hanna Obracht-Prondzyńska & Ewa Duda & Helena Anacka & Jolanta Kowal, 2022. "Greencoin as an AI-Based Solution Shaping Climate Awareness," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(18), pages 1-25, September.
    22. Boeing, Geoff, 2017. "Methods and Measures for Analyzing Complex Street Networks and Urban Form," SocArXiv 93h82, Center for Open Science.
    23. Munan Li, 2019. "Visualizing the studies on smart cities in the past two decades: a two-dimensional perspective," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 120(2), pages 683-705, August.
    24. Boeing, Geoff, 2017. "New Insights into Rental Housing Markets across the United States: Web Scraping and Analyzing Craigslist Rental Listings," SocArXiv v54w4, Center for Open Science.
    25. Marchesani, Filippo & Masciarelli, Francesca & Bikfalvi, Andrea, 2023. "Smart city as a hub for talent and innovative companies: Exploring the (dis) advantages of digital technology implementation in cities," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 193(C).

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