Abstract
Cities emerge from interactions between people, technologies, and environment. Energy systems, similarly, are sociotechnical, developed and maintained by actors with different types of knowledge and skill. When ‘smart’ information and communication technologies (ICT) are introduced to cities, they open up new energy-related possibilities, risks, and uncertainties. This chapter discusses how we can begin to address challenges posed by the spread of ICT into everyday city life. It first considers city evolution and what a ‘smart city’ might offer in terms of management, environmental outcomes, and quality of life. Next, some relevant lessons from energy studies are reviewed. ICT-enabled energy systems in smart(er) cities offer new opportunities for decentralised energy but pose challenges about affordable energy services, security and privacy, control, accountability, and resilience. To achieve good environmental, energy, and social outcomes, we need to start from local characteristics and needs for energy services, actors, knowledge, and skills.
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