Navigating Public Concerns in the Age of Smart Cities

Adam Mowlam, Manager Smart Cities, City of Greater Geelong

What is a smart city?

There are many working definitions of a smart city, but the most prevalent is a city based upon the foundations of good urban planning, economic competitiveness, infrastructure, and service provision that uses technology and data to enhance liveability, sustainability, and workability, supported by a broad and active collaboration amongst city stakeholders.

Smart city projects by local governments prioritise citizen needs, ranging from smart bins and barbecues for service efficiency, free public WiFi for addressing digital inclusion, living labs for community-led innovation, and smart parking to reduce traffic congestion. These projects enhance efficiency, improve access, foster innovation, and create a more sustainable and equitable community.

A defining characteristic of the smart city movement is the importance given to the evolution of a city’s industries and commercial activities. Cities need to be hubs of digital and clean technology innovation in order to provide employment and be more globally fluent to attract new businesses and new talent; this process is organically embedding the concept of smart cities.

Smart cities also seek to proactively protect citizens and businesses from the potential risks of future technologies like AI, IoT, and big data. The assessment and mitigation of technology-enabled risks and issues is a far better approach than blanket avoidance, since a future-focused city is more likely to avoid challenges and be better able to respond to them than a city that minimises technology deployment.

Cities are complex organisms, with many organisations and infrastructures providing the services needed for them to function effectively. Within this system, it can be difficult to roll out urban innovation, a process heavily reliant on an engaging vision, a well-understood path, and embedded principles such as trust and transparency. Cities are also now more resource constrained than ever before due to policy and complex regulations that are further exacerbated by high inflation and a globally challenging economic environment. The need for efficient in-service delivery will inevitably lead to technology-driven innovation to fill this gap.

Scepticism towards Smart Cities

Many cities are currently witnessing a rise in social media commentary and mendacious propaganda related to the conflation of two notions: the adverse impacts of smart city technologies and the urban planning concept of 20-minute neighbourhoods that purportedly will lead to climate lockdowns. The claims include an elaborate government plan to create an Orwellian surveillance state that restricts the freedom of people, strips individuals of privacy, takes cars away from citizens, spies on people, and introduces digital IDs in a government-endorsed prison-like setup.

The impact of misinformation and malinformation on smart cities can fuel broader public distrust, hinder technological progress, and, more importantly, distort the public's perception of their benefits. This could make it harder for smart city projects to secure funding and attract investors, especially if politicians are hesitant to support smart city initiatives if they fear backlash from constituents who are highly sceptical of technology.