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IBM's smart city as techno-utopian policy mobility

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  • Alan Wiig

Abstract

This paper explores IBM's Smarter Cities Challenge as an example of global smart city policymaking. The evolution of IBM's smart city thinking is discussed, then a case study of Philadelphia's online workforce education initiative, Digital On-Ramps, is presented as an example of IBM's consulting services. Philadelphia's rationale for working with IBM and the translation of IBM's ideas into locally adapted initiatives is considered. The paper argues that critical scholarship on the smart city over-emphasizes IBM's agency in driving the discourse. Unpacking how and why cities enrolled in smart city policymaking with IBM places city governments as key actors advancing the smart city paradigm. Two points are made about the policy mobility of the smart city as a mask for entrepreneurial governance. (1) Smart city efforts are best understood as examples of outward-looking policy promotion for the globalized economy. (2) These policies proposed citywide benefit through a variety of digital governance augmentations, unlike established urban, economic development projects such as a downtown redevelopment. Yet, the policy rhetoric of positive change was always oriented to fostering globalized business enterprise. As such, implementing the particulars of often-untested smart city policies mattered less than their capacity to attract multinational corporations.

Suggested Citation

  • Alan Wiig, 2015. "IBM's smart city as techno-utopian policy mobility," City, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 19(2-3), pages 258-273, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:cityxx:v:19:y:2015:i:2-3:p:258-273
    DOI: 10.1080/13604813.2015.1016275
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    Cited by:

    1. 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).
    2. Dongho Han & Ji Hyun Kim, 2022. "Multiple Smart Cities: The Case of the Eco Delta City in South Korea," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(10), pages 1-18, May.
    3. Heaphy, Liam James, 2018. "Interfaces and divisions in the Dublin Docklands 'Smart District'," SocArXiv z2afc, Center for Open Science.
    4. 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.
    5. Tali Hatuka & Hadas Zur, 2020. "Who is the ‘smart’ resident in the digital age? The varied profiles of users and non-users in the contemporary city," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 57(6), pages 1260-1283, May.
    6. Alizadeh, Tooran & Farid, Reza, 2017. "Political economy of telecommunication infrastructure: An investigation of the National Broadband Network early rollout and pork barrel politics in Australia," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 41(4), pages 242-252.
    7. Kummitha, Rama Krishna Reddy, 2020. "Why distance matters: The relatedness between technology development and its appropriation in smart cities," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 157(C).
    8. Fernando Fernandez-Monge & Sarah Barns & Rainer Kattel & Francesca Bria, 2024. "Reclaiming data for improved city governance: Barcelona’s New Data Deal," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 61(7), pages 1291-1307, May.
    9. Mike Hodson & Andrew McMeekin, 2021. "Global technology companies and the politics of urban socio-technical imaginaries in the digital age: Processual proxies, Trojan horses and global beachheads," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 53(6), pages 1391-1411, September.
    10. Chen, Jun, 2023. "Mitigating nitrogen dioxide air pollution: The roles and effect of national smart city pilots in China," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 263(PA).
    11. Kummitha, Rama Krishna Reddy, 2018. "Entrepreneurial urbanism and technological panacea: Why Smart City planning needs to go beyond corporate visioning?," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 137(C), pages 330-339.
    12. Andreani, Stefano & Kalchschmidt, Matteo & Pinto, Roberto & Sayegh, Allen, 2019. "Reframing technologically enhanced urban scenarios: A design research model towards human centered smart cities," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 142(C), pages 15-25.
    13. 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.
    14. J. Ramon Gil-Garcia & Tzuhao Chen & Mila Gasco-Hernandez, 2023. "Smart City Results and Sustainability: Current Progress and Emergent Opportunities for Future Research," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(10), pages 1-17, May.

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