(Not so) smart cities?: The drivers, impact and risks of surveillance-enabled smart environments

Abstract

The possibility of so-called ‘smart' technologies to improve city life has filled both pages of concern and PR leaflets. While the corporations driving these developments have emphasized how smart technologies can improve efficiency, critics have warned against the risks associated with the proliferation of smart surveillance. However, a critical discourse about the potential, limits and risks of the proliferation of smart technologies has not yet emerged, and in most instances public officials and decision-makers are ill-equipped to judge both the value and the externalities of the technologies being sold under the label ‘smart cities'. This paper presents a summary of smart solutions and definitions, and draws on the surveillance literature to address issues and risks related to the global drive to outsmart competing cities in a context of global governance. Using a multi-faceted and multi-disciplinary approach, it aims to provide a starting point for a public debate that involves policy-makers, developers and academics.