From Thurii to Quayside

Abstract

This chapter presents a short thought piece that frames several of the key governance challenges that cities face when approaching the Internet of Things (IoT) and other “smart” technologies. Those challenges in particular fall within two buckets: human governance, and technical interfaces. First, the chapter looks briefly at two planned cities – the ancient Greek city of Thurii, and the modern cityscape of Quayside in Toronto, Canada – as exemplifying the different layers of inclusivity that can and should work well together in communities of trust. One proposed takeaway then raised is the desirability of planning digital communities that invite active human participation in the blended spaces between the self and the world, the private and public, and the physical and virtual. As it turns out, this takeaway is entirely consistent with the notions of participatory community governance at the heart of the Governing Knowledge Commons (GKC) framework.