Exploring pathways of smart city futures: insights from engaged foresight

The chapter explores the futures of smart cities, beginning with their visionary inception and the subsequent challenges faced in the early 2000s. It highlights how the pandemic acted as a catalyst for reevaluating the concept, with a renewed focus on resilience, sustainability, and inclusivity in urban development. The interconnectedness of smartness, sustainability, and resilience in urban contexts is emphasized, with a spotlight on emerging technologies like big data, AI, and cybersecurity as potential enablers of future smart cities. The chapter unveils three distinct smart city future scenarios: (1) Disowned: Corporatocracy Dominance; (2) Outlier: Fragmented Dystopia; and (3) Preferred: Harmonious Ecospheres. The scenarios collectively emphasize the importance of ethical considerations, inclusivity, culture preservation, sustainability, and responsible governance in smart city development. They serve as cautionary tales and sources of inspiration for shaping smart city futures. The scenarios offer diverse narratives that challenge assumptions and provide valuable lessons for the future of smart cities. The study underscores the significance of digital inclusion in smart city development, especially in addressing the digital divide. It emphasizes the pivotal role of governance and questions whether citizens genuinely benefit from these initiatives. The study highlights the need for intentional and engaged foresight and linking this to decision-making in smart city development.