What Is a Resilient Smart City? Blue–Green Infrastructure as a Strategic Feature of Smart Urban Form: Empirical Evidence with a Particular Focus on the Songdo IBD and Aspern Seestadt in Vienna

Abstract

This study concerns the correlation of a smart city as an idea with urban form, with a particular focus on blue–green infrastructure. It aims to bridge the research gap on the physical structure of a smart city. It attempts to answer the following questions: (1) are there any patterns or rules in how a smart city’s urbanscape should be shaped? (2) Can green and recreational spaces contribute to a smart city’s smartness? If so, can a smart city be more resilient? To answer these questions, the author proposes the framework of a ‘smart urban form’ and a five-goal checklist to evaluate the blue–green infrastructure of a smart city. This checklist tool is based on the following five goals: morphology, ecology and environmental protection, accessibility, multifunctionality and activities, and identity and aesthetics, with specific factors for each goal. The paper presents a test of the tool on two existing smart city urban structures: the Songdo IBD, South Korea, and Aspern Seestadt, Vienna, Austria. This research is based on a combination of mixed methods: analysis of the literature, a multiple-case study, and observation. A correlation between the resilience of a smart city and its urban form, with an emphasis on blue–green infrastructure, was found.