New publication: Smart Cities – Heading Toward Panopticons or Smart Societies?

A. de Moor (2020). Smart Cities: Heading Toward Panopticions or Smart Societies?, ACM SIGCAS Computers and Society, Vol.49, No.3, pp.16-17. doi.org/10.1145/3447913.3447923

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Abstract:

Smart cities – which municipal authority does not want them? The complex societal issues – “wicked problems” – of the 21st century really are made concrete at the city level. Whereas politicians in The Hague, Brussels or Washington can endlessly discuss thorny issues like, say climate change, traffic congestion or their own Wars on Drugs, municipal decision makers need to get their act together now. How are we going to heat our buildings in winter and cool them in summer? How can we make city traffic flow more smoothly while emitting less pollution? How can we prevent social disruption due to drug trafficking in the hoods?