Smart City: Political Decisions and Civic Initiatives

Abstract

In recent years, the concept of “smart city” has been in great demand in the field of applied urban research. The concept of smart city is increasingly used in the context of strategic urban planning and urban management not only as a desirable image of the future, but also to describe the processes that are currently taking place and significantly changing the usual nature of the habitat of a person – a city dweller. The article focuses not so much on technological and informational, but rather on socio-political aspects of the “smart city”, giving examples of both solutions coming from government agencies and power institutions, and initiatives of public organisations and citizens aimed at the development of the urban environment and the formation of a “human-centred” space for life. It is noted that a promising direction in modern urbanism is participatory design, the main principle of which is the involvement of local communities in the development of improvement projects and activation of the potential of urban locations. It is concluded that the involvement of citizens themselves in the design process and joint adoption of project decisions, including the development of smart city, helps to better understand real problems and needs, contributes to the resolution of conflict situations while preserving the inherent diversity of the city and, thus, correlates with the basic principles of democracy.