Smart Cities: A Socio-Technical Perspective

Abstract

This research paper elaborates upon the concept of Smart Cities and the evolution of the term itself throughout history in order to outline the emergence of two distinct schools of thought: technocentric and humancentric, which have shaped smart cities. The paper also categorizes smart cities based on these two perspectives and outlines the operational tactics associated with them. After discussing and summarizing the pros and cons of both perspectives, the viewpoint of a socio-technical system-based model for conceptualizing and re-thinking the smart city narrative is presented. This People, Activity, Context and Technology (PACT) based socio-technical ecosystem model and the manner in which it can overcome the shortcomings of the technocentric and the humancentric modes of thinking is thus presented as a way to understand the city and as a laboratory for initiating an ecology of informed smart innovations.