Climate change and advances in urban technology propel forward the 'smart city'. As decision makers strive to find a technological fix, smart city strategies are often based on technological orthodoxies which are conceptually and empirically shallow. The motivation behind this paper is to address the conceptual adolescence which relates to the wholesale digitisation of the city by pursuing a twin argument about the democratic and environmental consequences. The authors draw on interdisciplinary theory and insights from urban studies, infrastructure, informatics, and the sociology of the Internet to critique the way the 'smart city' is taken forward. It is concluded that private firms market smart city services and solutions based on an ideological legacy of 'ubiquitous computing', 'universal infrastructure', and 'green technology'. Based on evidence from three UK cities-Manchester, Birmingham, and Glasgow-it is argued that the underlying principle of future city strategies is to expand the market for new technology products and services to support 'green growth' with disregard for their wider impacts.For citizens, becoming a consumer of the technologies is often presented as progressive 'participation' or 'empowerment' with unknown or hidden consequences both political and environmental. The city systems become a digital marketplace where citizen-consumers' participation is increasingly involuntary and the hegemony of global technology firms is inflated. What follows is that the city's 'intelligent systems' are defined through a digital consumer experience that has inherent biases and leaves parts of the city and its population unaccounted for. This renders the city less resilient in the face of future social and climatic risks.
In this paper we describe the development of Internet-based approaches to public participation and on-line spatial decision support systems in particular. Two case studies in developing web-based public participation GIS (PPGIS), one local and one regional, are described in detail. Results from the live testing of these systems are shown. These are discussed in the light of recent developments in ‘cyberdemocracy’ and conclusions are drawn about principles of on-line PPGIS and problems associated with public participation, user interaction, and familiarity with IT, copyright issues, access to the Internet, and relevant political structures.
New methods of using on-line interactive mapping are reported with a specific focus on how citizens can participate in the delivery and management of everyday services in their neighbourhood. Particular emphasis will be placed on how ICTs can be used to facilitate the regeneration of inner city neighbourhoods through more integrated approaches to spatial data management. The paper examines how internet mapping is used by the public through an interactive Public Participation GIS and illustrates how public access to on-line maps can help deliver improved services to local communities through the integration of GIS with a range of public services. This has raised some interesting issues in relation to how people understand mapping and their methods of navigation using such a system. With governments across the globe investing heavily in e-Government which includes on-line mapping facilities it is interesting to examine how the public actually perceive and use such systems.
In this paper we review the emerging lessons from a recent initiative on utilising Public Participatory Geographic Information Systems within Shoreline Management Planning to help unpack the theoretical and actual role of this approach for developing flood risk management policy options and scenarios. We discuss the benefits and limitations of stakeholder engagement in flood risk management decisions before highlighting some of the technical aspects of developing such an approach. We then examine how stakeholder access to mapping and spatial policies offers the potential for improved stakeholder dialogue and involvement in flood risk management. The paper highlights some of the underlying principles of the approach, potential pitfalls that the policy making community should avoid and good practice approaches to developing a participatory approach within flood risk management.
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