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Smart subjects for a Smart Nation? Governing (smart)mentalities in Singapore

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  • Ezra Ho

Abstract

As visions of smart urbanism gain traction around the world, it is crucial that we question the benefits that an increasingly technologised urbanity promise. It is not about the technology, but bettering peoples’ lives, insist smart city advocates. In this paper, I question the progressive potential of the smart city drawing on the case of Singapore’s Smart Nation initiative. Using the case studies of the smart home and ‘learning to code’ movement, I highlight the limits of such ‘smart’ interventions as they are stunted by the neoliberal-developmental logics of the state, thereby facilitating authoritarian consolidation in Singapore. As such, this paper distinguishes itself from previous works on the neoliberal smart city by situated smart urbanism within the socio-political dynamics of neoliberalism-as-developmental strategy. For smart urbanism to better peoples’ everyday lives, technological ‘solutionism’ needs to be replaced with more human-centric framings and understandings of urban challenges.

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  • 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.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:urbstu:v:54:y:2017:i:13:p:3101-3118
    DOI: 10.1177/0042098016664305
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    Cited by:

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    4. Lily Kong & Orlando Woods, 2018. "The ideological alignment of smart urbanism in Singapore: Critical reflections on a political paradox," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 55(4), pages 679-701, March.
    5. Ada Górna & Krzysztof Górny, 2021. "Singapore vs. the ‘Singapore of Africa’—Different Approaches to Managing Urban Agriculture," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(9), pages 1-28, September.
    6. Aisha Sobey, 2023. "Obliged smart freedom: The Singaporean experience of advanced neoliberal-developmental governance," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 60(16), pages 3336-3352, December.
    7. Mora, Luca & Gerli, Paolo & Ardito, Lorenzo & Messeni Petruzzelli, Antonio, 2023. "Smart city governance from an innovation management perspective: Theoretical framing, review of current practices, and future research agenda," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 123(C).
    8. Kerry Bobbins & Federico Caprotti & Jiska de Groot & Whitney Pailman & Mascha Moorlach & Hendrik Schloemann & Alex Densmore & Kimenthrie Finlay & Ellen Fischat & Siseko Siwali & Joslyn Links, 2024. "Smart and disruptive infrastructures: Re-building knowledge on the informal city," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 61(1), pages 165-179, January.
    9. Jathan Sadowski, 2021. "Who owns the future city? Phases of technological urbanism and shifts in sovereignty," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 58(8), pages 1732-1744, June.
    10. Ryan Burns & Victoria Fast & Anthony Levenda & Byron Miller, 2021. "Smart cities: Between worlding and provincialising," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 58(3), pages 461-470, February.

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