What is the impact of smart and sustainable urbanization on society and knowledge politics? How does smart urbanization affect the environment? And how do we ensure that smart urbanization doesn’t harm our planet? This article offers three perspectives that will help us understand the impacts of smart and sustainable urbanization. Read on to discover what they mean. Then make your own choices.
Impact of smart and sustainable urbanization on society
One of the most common misunderstandings about smart and sustainable urbanization is its impact on society. While smart-sustainability solutions can improve the quality of life for some citizens, they also can widen the gap between rich and poor. Johanna Hoffken explores smart sustainability and the impact of cities on society. She compares India’s Smart City Mission with China’s Ecological Civilization.
Globally, 66% of the world’s population will live in cities, and an additional 2.4 billion people will move to cities during the next century. With this increase in urban populations comes the need for new urban environments. While cities use only about 2% of the earth’s surface, they consume 75% of the planet’s resources. By 2050, the UN Environment Programme estimates that the total material consumption in cities will increase by ninety billion tons.
While smart cities are seen as the future of urbanization, there is no single definition of the term. Various definitions of the term have varying degrees of emphasis. Some focus on economic growth, while others place sustainability as a secondary goal. The most common definitions focus on sustainability as the third or fourth priority. Smart cities aim to integrate various technologies into the city’s infrastructure system and enhance existing services.
Impact of smart and sustainable urbanization on knowledge politics
Evidence-driven, knowledge-driven governance is essential to the development of smart cities. A study examines the Cambridge city region as an empirical case and explores how knowledge is generated, framed and processed in the city region. Ultimately, it concludes with some suggestions for further research and policy-making. In particular, it argues that evidence-driven knowledge is essential for a smart city, while analogue and data-driven knowledge are indispensable to smart governance.
While indicators are essential to decision-making, they also need to be meaningful and representative of the aspirations of citizens and the inputs of multiple urban actors. Despite this, subjectivity is inevitable, and because sustainability is such a diffuse concept with no clear definition, there is an asymmetry of views regarding the indicators. In fact, there are no agreed-upon indicators to measure smart and sustainable cities.
Massive urbanization is the oldest issue affecting cities. In the last century, the Covid-19 pandemic tested the limits of cities. Information technologies and innovation played a crucial role in managing the virus. Unfortunately, the pandemic revealed the inadequacies of national and smart cities.
Impact of smart and sustainable urbanization on the environment
A well-balanced relationship between humans and the environment is at the core of smart and sustainable urbanization. Smart cities should be both efficient and livable. They should consider and balance urbanization’s social and economic benefits while protecting the environment. This is not an easy task; therefore, it is necessary to understand the impacts of the different forms of urbanization.
Smart and sustainable cities rely on ICTs to help them monitor and manage their resources. Smart grids use IoT sensors to detect local changes in energy use and automatically report this data to their energy provider. These systems provide end users with greater control over their consumption. The use of digital twins, virtual and augmented reality and robotics in cities are just some of the developments that are transforming urban life.
In addition to smart cities, eco-towns are an important model for developing sustainable cities. These eco-towns are designed to minimize the impact of urbanization on the environment and are a great way for city planners to start implementing smart and sustainable urban planning. This approach helps cities become more environmentally sustainable while creating a better living environment for their inhabitants. It is important to recognize that cities use only 2% of the earth’s surface and consume about 75% of the planet’s natural resources.