Human Flourishing in Smart Cities

Smart cities arose from the smart growth movement of the United States in the 1980s. Asian smart cities are used to focus more on technology rather than human and governance initiatives. During the period between 2010 and 2017, we attended numerous smart-city seminars, and also visited more than 40 international cities in Asia, Europe, and North America, and interviewed citizens about their respective cities in the world. We extensively reviewed literature about smart cities and criticized how the development of smart cities exacerbated social and economic divides in places where there was an absence of robust civil institutions and civil engagements. We chose two Asian smart-city exemplars, Singapore and Songdo in the Republic of Korea, to illustrate how the central-government-led smart-city industry policy was taking away citizens’ rights to be consulted and heard. Smart cities can easily be controlled by corporations. A new paradigm, that is, community-led urban growth, is advocated. Information and communications technology (ICT) is used to empower people and the community to exercise their choices and to be engaged in the economic, social, and political activities in smart cities. We affirm the importance of the development of citizens rather than consumers in our teaching and research. We need to help students to know how to navigate in the mass ocean of digitized data about urban imaginaries by asking questions related to our innate human capacities and well-being. It is essential for Hong Kong policy makers to develop trusting relationships with their citizens through responsible data policy, open and collaborative governance structure, and heavy investment in humanity initiatives.