A lot is being said about the role of Smart Cities in the global development towards a more sustainable world. Sustainable world means one that manages its resources in a way that is efficient and leaving no costs for the future generations. Cities are hubs for economical and social growth and soon will become a home for most of the world's population, therefore the way that they are governed play a major role in how the sustainability challenge will be approached.
Smart Cities are a new urban model based on information and knowledge systems (referred to as intelligent systems). It is said that the sustainability of these systems will be achieved once their intelligence is unleashed. Specifically one characteristic of the Smart City seems to be crucial here - it is the extent to which its intelligent system enables Adaptive Governance.
Adaptive Governance is defined as one that creates conditions for the city authorities, inhabitants and other actors to collaborate in a new way - a way that enables real partnership and engagement across the scales and institutional levels of the city system. Such partnership is said to be the key to unleashing the social intelligence, based on consciousness and knowledge, leading to better resource management in the Smart City.
Please read the article at:
http://sustainablecitiescollective.com/david-thorpe/1065166/webinar-round-what-makes-smart-city
and answer the following questions:
1. In your opinion what are the most important characteristics of a Smart City?
2. What is the role of human intelligence in the formation of the information and knowledge systems of a Smart City?
3. Is Adaptive Governance an utopia or is it actually possible to create conditions for city authorities and citizens to collaborate as equal partners?
4. How should an intelligent system for Adaptive Governance be designed or thought of?
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ReplyDeleteHi Dominika,
ReplyDeleteThanks for an interesting read. Those are some tough questions!
1. In your opinion what are the most important characteristics of a Smart City?
Initially when I read the title ‘Smart Cities’ I thought it would describe something similar to ‘Arcologies’ - self contained cities… which can be launched into space. For those who never played SimCity2000: http://simcity.wikia.com/wiki/Arcology
But apparently they’re not. Unfortunately I find the whole concept of a Smart City a bit fuzzy, and the definition given in the article doesn’t really help:
“Smart cities according to our panel are about connecting things and people in both technological and traditional ways but the overall aim is to help government perform better and the public to receive services better.”
So, based on this, I would have to say ’connecting things and people’, ‘better government performance’ and ‘better services’. All this results in better resource consumption and wouldn’t be possible without new technologies - like smartphones, which are great, because they have a very clear and coherent definition :)
By the way, I think the ‘commuter’ in the first picture (looking like the 11th Doctor) is breaking the law - you’re supposed to dismount and wheel your cycle across a pelican or zebra crossing, not ride through it!
2. What is the role of human intelligence in the formation of the information and knowledge systems of a Smart City?
I think those systems are gathering mainly human-generated information, so human intelligence is playing a key role in this process. It’s probably also partially processed and supervised by human intelligence. So lots of Big Data, Data Mining, Crowdsourcing and NoSQL!
3. Is Adaptive Governance an utopia or is it actually possible to create conditions for city authorities and citizens to collaborate as equal partners?
I’m not sure if they will ever collaborate as equal partners, but Adaptive Governance doesn’t seem utopian to me. I think that better collaboration of citizens and authorities is both necessary and possible, and will probably be achieved thanks to arising technologies. I think it’s already happening, even here in Warsaw.
4. How should an intelligent system for Adaptive Governance be designed or thought of?
In my opinion it should be thought of and designed as a collection of independent solutions. They’re all contributing to making a city ‘smart’, i.e. helping exchange and collect information, share resources (like cars and wifi) and learn from collected data.
Hi Łukasz, thank you for your insights.
DeleteIt is especially interesting for me to see that the given definition of what a Smart City is seems blurred. I would like to give it a better explanation, based on what I have been studying so far.
Firstly it is important to acknowledge that with regards to the concept of Smart City we cannot simply say it is just the separate field of IT and ICT or just the field of urban design that sets the rules to it. It is actually a new science, referred to by some scholars as Urban Informatics, Street Informatics, Ubiquitous Computing or Internet of Things in the city scale (please refer to Marcus Foth from Urban Informatics Lab, Brisbane, Australia). This new science is a combination of rules taken from sociology and social network (i.e. the city becomes an living organism, with characteristic social patterns that can be observed and influenced through social platforms) architecture and urban planning (how the physical environment is shaped and how it reflects and influences the social network) and lastly IT and ICT technology (which can focus on either data/information or knowledge management - information is quantitative and can be easily stored and transferred, knowledge is more specific, subjective and social)
Secondly the definitions of a Smart City and its Intelligent Systems differ also depending on from which angle the concept is observed. A common definition says that a Smart City is one that provides its citizens services based on advanced IT and ICT technology. An emerging, broader definition says that the Smart City is a structure and environment for the knowledge-based society and its primary goal is to create added social value for the city - making it livable, flexible and sustainable - which are highly subjective and qualitative values.
I do believe that the above explanation may still be blurred. For me this precise problem is in the centre of my research. Originally I come from the field of architecture and sociology, now exploring the field of IT. I do understand the Smart City concept, however I find it difficult to provide strict translation of the definition between the domains. I hope our discussion can give me a lot of answers.
Hi Dominika, thanks for clearing that up for me, your explanation is much better!
Delete1. In your opinion what are the most important characteristics of a Smart City?
ReplyDeleteFor me Smart City is a reliable city, where are information I need is accessible for my demand with some acceptable exceptions. If I go to my work I can choose the most optimal source of transportation. If I need to use any service I could choose the most appropriate company. If there is any problematic situation in city I will be informed and suitable institutions would be called. Sure there are other aspects as ecology and entertainment. This basic things should be framework for all cities. Additionally every city should have it's own spirit. A characteristic that would attract people to visit. If not in person than virtually. I don't have the goal to travel to all cities right now but I'm very happy to receive information for any interesting events in cities in the world. Most of this things is available now and can be implemented in other developing cities.
2. What is the role of human intelligence in the formation of the information and knowledge systems of a Smart City?
The role of Humint is essential for upload information to knowledge systems. Of course lot of information can be upload by sensors but what if they fail? We could double critical instruments however systematic human checks should be performed.
3. Is Adaptive Governance an utopia or is it actually possible to create conditions for city authorities and citizens to collaborate as equal partners?
All signals deliver some kind of information. Collect enough of them and you got task to perform. Ignore them and you can receive problem.
4. How should an intelligent system for Adaptive Governance be designed or thought of?
Treat the city like a human organism. All information is stored in information highway. Some of them can be postpone, some ignore and other are critical to react. It is impossible to solve every problem so information should be prioritized, filtered and routed between operational units. In case of any problems redundant units should be activated. All events and operation should be stored to future audit and development cycle.
Piotr, thank you for your comment.
DeleteThe idea of all information accessible to you as a user is exactly how the primary definition of a Smart City says (please refer to my reply to Łukasz).
Can you imagine however a situation where not only you have the full access to information you personally need to function in a city, but also you, as the user, may influence how the city is designed and organized (I am talking about User-Centered Design here in the city scale - the city it self is the product/service you are improving). Imagine that through an Adaptive Governance platform you could inform the city authorities that you personally need a cultural centre/ school / playground / a community network .... (or whatever else maybe your personal development need in the current moment of time) and actually have it done for you. Imagine that you may not only be an informant to the city authority, you may also become a designer and partner in the process of creating your environment.
Would this be possible? i will be happy to hear more opinions on this aspect!
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ReplyDelete1. In your opinion what are the most important characteristics of a Smart City?
ReplyDeleteThe most important characteristic of any city should be that people want to live there. So we should be careful when trying to redesign a city all over again into something completely different than it was before. Cities shouldn't all be the same either. Sustainability and efficiency is good, but some of the best things in life tend to go against that - it's just human nature. For example it was a terrible feat of inefficiency to build the Eiffel Tower (a pointless structure) and it causes us to waste vast amounts of resources just to travel there (for no real reason). And yet who would argue against that? I'm puzzled by the chart from the article which shows us we should optimize our resource usage to as little as possible.
2. What is the role of human intelligence in the formation of the information and knowledge systems of a Smart City?
Someone has to design and develop those information and knowledge systems, so that's where human intelligence is needed. If this helps us waste less of our time and effort on bureaucracy then great. If it creates conditions for unabated intrusion into our lives then we should not allow it.
3. Is Adaptive Governance an utopia or is it actually possible to create conditions for city authorities and citizens to collaborate as equal partners?
Will laws be different in every community then? What about an equal playing field? How will it be enforced under Adaptive Governance? Won't special interest groups take over this process and steer it in their preferred direction? Can there be different laws for different people? If not, then what exactly is being adapted to what?
This concept raises a lot of questions and somehow I doubt that 'equality' would be the outcome if it ever gets implemented.
4. How should an intelligent system for Adaptive Governance be designed or thought of?
First of all it should have an OFF switch, let's not forget about that!
It's main role (and the starting point) should be to simplify what we already have.
Thank you Wiktor, these are some really good questions to ask.
ReplyDeleteYou are definitely right that the situation is never black or white and human nature plays a very important role here. Maybe, but I'm not sure there, the authors of the Smart City concept have a hidden assumption that the human nature is indeed changed in the process - in other words they observe that due to the technology usage some kind of a social engineering process is taking place. We change our behaviour and way of thinking when we interact with the IT system, and hence the systems may be designed in a specific way to trigger this change.
That is an interesting possibility if we're talking about what's beyond the foreseeable future. It's probably already happening. I just hope the hidden assumption won't morph into a hidden (political) agenda disguised as technological progress and result in an oppressive system. It's quite subjective to say what is a waste of resources and what is a valid economic activity. Unless we decide that everything that isn't necessary for survival is a waste of resources and should go towards saving the planet and feeding the poor instead (some A.I. system might even tell us it would be more efficient to skip the last part).
DeleteInteresting -which A.I. systems are these?
Delete1. In your opinion what are the most important characteristics of a Smart City?
ReplyDeleteDirect, daily, permanent communication between city board and citizens. I believe that this is the core part of future solutions for cities and states as well. There is no sense to choose city major and after that practically lose control on what management is doing for next years (until another election is coming). After those years you don’t even remember what was promised in previous campaign, so how can you check what has been done? In opposition to that, I don’t have nothing against to vote every day by myself on current issues. I think it would be few minutes behind my phone or computer during morning coffee. The government is to accomplish people’s needs, not for deciding in behalf of citizens - widely without their acceptance.
2. What is the role of human intelligence in the formation of the information and knowledge systems of a Smart City?
Again the core part in my opinion. We don’t need any system to think in behalf of us. We need system which can understand out varied needs, structure and categorize it and find solutions which is the best trade-off joining our differences.
3. Is Adaptive Governance an utopia or is it actually possible to create conditions for city authorities and citizens to collaborate as equal partners?
I guess even now it is cheap and easy to create web based city systems for collecting daily votes on issues, change-requests and other type of propositions. I could be even only auxiliary for the city board at the beginning. The problem is in that, it will tie politician’s hands so not many politicians are truly interested in developing it.
4. How should an intelligent system for Adaptive Governance be designed or thought of?
Algorithms are the base of logic inside any software - until we develop artificial intelligence. In this particular case algorithms has to be designed to provide best options or decisions on given data. However even best validation won’t overcome false data as an input. So data has to come from the only true sources which are citizen’s minds in terms of ideas and decisions and from electronics in terms of statistical measurements.
1. In your opinion what are the most important characteristics of a Smart City?
ReplyDeleteDirect, daily, permanent communication between city board and citizens. I believe that this is the core part of future solutions for cities and states as well. There is no sense to choose city major and after that practically lose control on what management is doing for next years (until another election is coming). After those years you don’t even remember what was promised in previous campaign, so how can you check what has been done? In opposition to that, I don’t have nothing against to vote every day by myself on current issues. I think it would be few minutes behind my phone or computer during morning coffee. The government is to accomplish people’s needs, not for deciding in behalf of citizens - widely without their acceptance.
2. What is the role of human intelligence in the formation of the information and knowledge systems of a Smart City?
Again the core part in my opinion. We don’t need any system to think in behalf of us. We need system which can understand out varied needs, structure and categorize it and find solutions which is the best trade-off joining our differences.
3. Is Adaptive Governance an utopia or is it actually possible to create conditions for city authorities and citizens to collaborate as equal partners?
I guess even now it is cheap and easy to create web based city systems for collecting daily votes on issues, change-requests and other type of propositions. I could be even only auxiliary for the city board at the beginning. The problem is in that, it will tie politician’s hands so not many politicians are truly interested in developing it.
4. How should an intelligent system for Adaptive Governance be designed or thought of?
Algorithms are the base of logic inside any software - until we develop artificial intelligence. In this particular case algorithms has to be designed to provide best options or decisions on given data. However even best validation won’t overcome false data as an input. So data has to come from the only true sources which are citizen’s minds in terms of ideas and decisions and from electronics in terms of statistical measurements.
Albert, that's an interesting input into the discussion, thank you.
DeleteYou are right that not many decision makers and politicians are interested in developing a system such as the voting one that you are describing. I am wondering about the whole idea of voting - voting actually means that one actor group is being passive and reducing its actions just to giving a yes or no and another group is the one giving ideas and having them judged. This is a bit different from the process where citizens become co-creators and equal partners.
In my opinion any decision system without a platform for discussion and space for knowledge creation (and knowledge creation in this sense means that I realize that some solution may actually be good for my city or community, once I start to perceive the situation through a new experience, once I listen to all the pros and cons with empathy) - without this space for discussion I would definitely be scared to launch such a system, no matter how honest a politician I were.
1. In your opinion what are the most important characteristics of a Smart City?
ReplyDeleteThe term of a Smart City is a very new for me. Having read the paper in my opinion there are 2 words that give the best characterization of “A Smart City” idea: MOBILITY & SERVICES. I think that the mixture of a very new, open thinking concerning mobility of technology, IT systems, processes and capital assets (e.g. cars, etc.) to improve services for city society are the best description of “A Smart Cities”.
2. What is the role of human intelligence in the formation of the information and knowledge systems of a Smart City?
ReplyDeleteThe role of human intelligence: wisdom, knowledge, intelligence, versatility, quickness of mind, openness are the most important in creation of a Smart City idea. Nowadays, only the human (see the listed features) can understand quickly how the city systems, processes and services works and how to join them smartly to have them improved.
3. Is Adaptive Governance an utopia or is it actually possible to create conditions for city authorities and citizens to collaborate as equal partners?
ReplyDeleteThe Government and local authorities are elected by people for people, so they don`t have a choice and need to collaborate as equal partners. In my opinion, the chances that the effect of collaboration will be seen is more probable on the local level, than on the state level. Moreover, I agree with Łukasz point of view, that the effect of collaboration is seen nowadays. Take a look at Warsaw city bicycle systems, bike paths, any many others.
4. How should an intelligent system for Adaptive Governance be designed or thought of?
ReplyDeleteIt is hard to say because of the complexity of the City Systems domain. The systems are designed to solve the certain type of problem, so it depends on what do we need to improve. Of course the data bases of existing city systems should be open for a city systems engineers and there should be an open space for townspeople to put and changed their ideas into real product too.
1. In your opinion what are the most important characteristics of a Smart City?
ReplyDelete> Better awareness, better services, reduced waste of resources . Connect the 'things' properly so all the ends know what is going on and what is needed.
2. What is the role of human intelligence in the formation of the information and knowledge systems of a Smart City?
> Develop and use the tools properly. There is no strong AI, we need to develop that 'Smart City' and maintain over time.
3. Is Adaptive Governance an utopia or is it actually possible to create conditions for city authorities and citizens to collaborate as equal partners?
> No it's not and Yes it is. I don't know how could I say if an utopia is either an utopia or not. Maybe I can answer like this; It depends to the implementation, people of that time and location and the level of technology.
4. How should an intelligent system for Adaptive Governance be designed or thought of?
> I don't think we can design it from scratch and apply at once without backing it via strong AI.
Thanks for sharing this interesting article, I'll try to give my answer to your questions.
ReplyDelete1. In your opinion what are the most important characteristics of a Smart City?
You already mentioned governance which I think is the foundation of a Smart City, without smart decisions we can't achieve much. Another important area is mobility, people need to commute daily to work or meet, transportation methods and infrastructure play a huge part in the sustainability of the city. We should of course not forget about the environment, trying to blend nature into human constructions (I hear from a lot of foreigners that Warsaw is like a huge city park so I guess it's on a good path ;) ).
2. What is the role of human intelligence in the formation of the information and knowledge systems of a Smart City?
Until singularity occurs we need human intelligence to gather and comprehend complex data or monitor the work of the systems that control the Smart City.
3. Is Adaptive Governance an utopia or is it actually possible to create conditions for city authorities and citizens to collaborate as equal partners?
Governance will always have the upper hand in those relations and we will never be able to define both ends as equal partners, unless technology will take care of it. Machines can be programmed to collaborate on equal terms, people tend to create hierarchies.
4. How should an intelligent system for Adaptive Governance be designed or thought of?
Like I mentioned in the answer to your second question, I doubt we (flawed creatures) could create a flawless system before artificial AI matures enough to patch it up.
I agree about your answer for third question. Computers are constructed more democratically, but if one part broke all system can collapse. Human word is different. One human can marginalize some group of persons and life somehow goes on.
Delete