The shaping of smart cities is being widely debated from either technological viewpointsnormally associated with the research and development of systems and devicesand from socio-economic and political perspectives. This chapter looks instead at the design of smart places as whole combinationsand re-combinationsof physical, digital and social aspects. It makes an attempt to evolve the discussion on smart design from a simple add-on logic of digital over physical to what it means in terms of challenges and opportunities for the design process and the thinking behind it. This stems from a re-engagement with and re-discussion of two fundamental spatial design notions: context and affordance. As 'smart' re-combines these in potentially new ways, architects and urban designers need to be aware and able to embed these new possibilities as part of an extended toolbox.