Smart Cities Case Study

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Adequacy of the Status Quo
The concept of smart cities should be approached with extreme caution especially with reference to developing countries such as India which has limited financial resources to put into the growth sectors in economy. Such hi-tech smart cities require huge social infrastructure to succeed in long term. However South Korea’s model of implementing the u-city model across the country uniformly is leading to a forceful adoption of the smart cities. This model leaves no room for public debate and engagement prior to such technologies being implemented

Smart City investment is subject to the numerous investment risks. Due to the nature of technologies and public goods involved the risks can be substantial. New and innovative
Smart Cities by focusing solely on technology can lead to continuation of suboptimal design of urban infrastructure thus leading to wastage and misallocation of public resources. Smart Cities have no incentive to upgrade the pre-internet physical infrastructure. Further the technology is short lived and risks of obsolescence would require constant investments. Thus smart cities are essentially being seen as smart services like smart grids, smart lighting, smart parking, smart buildings etc. and not the improvement of the core physical infrastructure, which enables all those services. The current discourse promotes a idea of smart cities as technocratic fiction for urban management wherein data and software suffice with knowledge, interpretation and thematic experience are superfluous
However, the very idea of a technologically determined smart city will result in a widening of the digital divide. The smart cities perceived as elite concept might improve efficiencies in public infrastructure but ultimately prove too costly to be affordable to the urban poor.
The adoption of such technologies have also differed in the west and rest of the world. It is the developing countries, huge population acting as test beds for the technologies developed in the west. For instance in South Korea, these digital technologies for smarter living and infrastructure can be tested easily by MNCs as there are fewer social and regulatory obstacles to implementation. Also, developing countries are willing to put off the sensitive questions to take the early lead and set standards

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