Smart city planning from a bottom-up approach: local communities' intervention for a smarter urban environment

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to explore the concept of “smart” cities from the perspective of inclusive community participation and Geographical Information Systems (GIS).The concept of a smart city is critically analyzed, focusing on the power/knowledge implications of a “bottom-up” approach in planning and how GIS could encourage community participation in smart urban planning. The paper commences with a literature review of what it means for cities to be “smart”. It draws supporting definitions and critical insights into smart cities with respect to the built environment and the human factor. The second part of the paper, analyzes the “bottom-up” approach in urban planning, focusing on community participation reviewing forms and expressions through good practices from European cities. The third part of the paper includes a debate on how smart urban cities policies and community participation interact and influence each other. Finally, the paper closes with a discussion of the insights that were found and offers recommendations on how this debate could be addressed by Information and Communication Technologies and GIS in particular.