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Smart cities from scratch? A socio-technical perspective

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  • Luís Carvalho

Abstract

This paper argues that contemporary smart city visions based on ITs (information and tele- communication technologies) configure complex socio-technical challenges that can benefit from strategic niche management to foster two key processes: technological learning and societal embedding. Moreover, it studies the extent to which those processes started to unfold in two paradigmatic cases of smart city pilots ‘from scratch’: Songdo (South Korea) and PlanIT Valley (Portugal). The rationale and potentials of the two pilots as arenas for socio-technical experimentation and global niche formation are analysed, as well as the tensions and bottlenecks involved in nurturing socially rich innovation ecosystems and in maintaining social and political support over time.

Suggested Citation

  • Luís Carvalho, 2015. "Smart cities from scratch? A socio-technical perspective," Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 8(1), pages 43-60.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:cjrecs:v:8:y:2015:i:1:p:43-60.
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1093/cjres/rsu010
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    Cited by:

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    4. Gabriela Christmann & Ajit Singh & Jörg Stollmann & Christoph Bernhardt, 2020. "Visual Communication in Urban Design and Planning: The Impact of Mediatisation(s) on the Construction of Urban Futures," Urban Planning, Cogitatio Press, vol. 5(2), pages 1-9.
    5. Diogo Correia & Leonor Teixeira & João Lourenço Marques, 2021. "Reviewing the State-of-the-Art of Smart Cities in Portugal: Evidence Based on Content Analysis of a Portuguese Magazine," Publications, MDPI, vol. 9(4), pages 1-30, October.
    6. 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.
    7. Ben Robaeyst & Bastiaan Baccarne & Wout Duthoo & Dimitri Schuurman, 2021. "The City as an Experimental Environment: The Identification, Selection, and Activation of Distributed Knowledge in Regional Open Innovation Ecosystems," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(12), pages 1-18, June.
    8. van Winden, Willem & Carvalho, Luís, 2019. "Intermediation in public procurement of innovation: How Amsterdam’s startup-in-residence programme connects startups to urban challenges," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(9), pages 1-1.
    9. Miörner, Johan & Binz, Christian, 2020. "Toward a multi-scalar perspective of transition trajectories," Papers in Innovation Studies 2020/10, Lund University, CIRCLE - Centre for Innovation Research.
    10. Anna Majewska & Małgorzata Denis & Wioleta Krupowicz, 2020. "Urbanization Chaos of Suburban Small Cities in Poland: ‘Tetris Development’," Land, MDPI, vol. 9(11), pages 1-27, November.
    11. Parul Gupta & Sumedha Chauhan & M. P. Jaiswal, 2019. "Classification of Smart City Research - a Descriptive Literature Review and Future Research Agenda," Information Systems Frontiers, Springer, vol. 21(3), pages 661-685, June.
    12. Haarstad, Håvard & Wathne, Marikken W., 2019. "Are smart city projects catalyzing urban energy sustainability?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 129(C), pages 918-925.
    13. Gabriela Christmann & Ajit Singh & Jörg Stollmann & Christoph Bernhardt, 2020. "Visual Communication in Urban Design and Planning: The Impact of Mediatisation(s) on the Construction of Urban Futures," Urban Planning, Cogitatio Press, vol. 5(2), pages 1-9.
    14. Daniel Schmitt & Chisenga Muyoya, 2020. "Influence in Technological Innovation Spaces: A Network Science Approach to Understand Innovation for Sustainability in the Global South," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(5), pages 1-18, March.
    15. Mora, Luca & Deakin, Mark & Reid, Alasdair, 2019. "Combining co-citation clustering and text-based analysis to reveal the main development paths of smart cities," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 142(C), pages 56-69.
    16. Karimikia, Hadi & Bradshaw, Robert & Singh, Harminder & Ojo, Adegboyega & Donnellan, Brian & Guerin, Michael, 2022. "An emergent taxonomy of boundary spanning in the smart city context – The case of smart Dublin," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 185(C).
    17. Oleg Golubchikov & Mary J. Thornbush, 2022. "Smart Cities as Hybrid Spaces of Governance: Beyond the Hard/Soft Dichotomy in Cyber-Urbanization," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(16), pages 1-12, August.
    18. Silva, Lucas Emmanuel Nascimento & Gomes, Leonardo Augusto de Vasconcelos & Faria, Aline Mariane de & Borini, Felipe Mendes, 2024. "Innovation processes in ecosystem settings: An integrative framework and future directions," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 132(C).
    19. Aditya Dinesh Gupta & Prerna Pandey & Andrés Feijóo & Zaher Mundher Yaseen & Neeraj Dhanraj Bokde, 2020. "Smart Water Technology for Efficient Water Resource Management: A Review," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(23), pages 1-23, November.
    20. Miguel Manjon & Zineb Aouni & Nathalie Crutzen, 2022. "Green and digital entrepreneurship in smart cities," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 68(2), pages 429-462, April.
    21. Byron Miller & Kevin Ward & Ryan Burns & Victoria Fast & Anthony Levenda, 2021. "Worlding and provincialising smart cities: From individual case studies to a global comparative research agenda," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 58(3), pages 655-673, February.
    22. Mora, Luca & Deakin, Mark & Reid, Alasdair, 2019. "Strategic principles for smart city development: A multiple case study analysis of European best practices," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 142(C), pages 70-97.
    23. Harris Breslow, 2021. "The smart city and the containment of informality: The case of Dubai," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 58(3), pages 471-486, February.
    24. Cristina Caterina Amitrano & Marco Tregua & Tiziana Russo Spena & Francesco Bifulco, 2018. "On Technology in Innovation Systems and Innovation-Ecosystem Perspectives: A Cross-Linking Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(10), pages 1-15, October.

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