Current conceptualizations of and approaches to scarcity tend to be economic-focused and institution driven with understated and underemphasized sociocultural dimensions. We address this lack in a socio-cultural orientation to natural resource scarcity and draw upon Vygotsky’s theorizations to do so. We rely on the existing literature and secondary sources of information to overview issues relating to water scarcity and the survival related challenges especially in developing country contexts with a specific focus on India. Although Vygotsky theorizes individual learning and development in terms of influences from more knowledgeable individuals to the less knowledgeable, he does not engage so much with how individual learning and development is tied to community interests and community development. We extend Vygotsky by incorporating a responsibilization dimension in theorizations of individual development. Neither does Vygotsky consider how a range of communication modes including traditional or non-traditional media and technology can play an enabling role in reinforcing processes of influence. We include these to further extend Vygotsky. We consider the role of elite individuals such as community leaders and others well-recognized for their socio-cultural status or specialized skills in disseminating knowledge in Vygotsky’s zones of proximal development. We emphasize the circulation of knowledge via sociocultural interactions as pertinent to raising consciousness of natural resource scarcity. We finally discuss initiatives to manage water scarcity at consumer, community and industry-consumer partnership levels. The paper broadens current understandings of scarcity and extends Vygotsky’s sociocultural theorizations in the focus on communities, the responsibilization of consumers as well as in the usage of communication modes, and suggests independent and supported consumer-driven and consumer-centered initiatives as complementary to the existing in seeking solutions to water-scarcity in developing country contexts.
Cities around the world are facing enormous strain to sustain and improve the quality of life (QoL) owing to rapid urbanization and rising populations. Management of urban resources in a responsible manner is key to sustainable development in rapidly urbanizing regions. Cities are increasingly making use of modern technologies with a focus on cost reduction, optimal resource utilization and creation of more liveable urban environment. Such cities, called smart cities, have gained traction with policy makers, politicians and urban managers having the attributes of sustainable urbanism, QoL, and smartness. Smart cities provide digital intelligence to existing cities by creating a ubiquitous, integrated and smart environment where IoT applications impart seamless interconnection, interaction, control and insights about the isolated systems within the cities. This paper discusses and reviews the role of IoT for sustainable smart cities by highlighting IoT applications for smart cities. The challenges and opportunities associated with IoT enabled smart cities are also highlighted.
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