Smart models for a new participatory and sustainable form of governance

Abstract

A region may be defined as smart when it focuses its efforts on the development of human and social capital, on transportation, on information and communication technologies (ICT), on an appropriate management of natural resources and on the promotion of participatory governance. The smart city model calls for the development of medium and small communities in order to provide an answer and a real alternative to the progressive loss of quality of life that is taking place in today's cities. It is a response to the many problems associated with globalization, which now more than ever seem to deny opportunities for development rather than foster them and loses sight of the centrality of the human being and citizen. Ultimately, it is a model of territorial intelligence that begins with an analysis of strengths and weaknesses and then implements a series of strategic interventions in order to overcome any critical factors and to improve the quality of city life. Starting from the assumption that we are living in a historic period of great and rapid transformation in which significant changes that result in global economic and geopolitical restructuring are leading us into a new world with new needs, this paper aims to highlight those features that place a particular emphasis on smart development: the development of better integrated and more inclusive urban models, by rethinking the city, its logic and its traditional structures; the co-partnership of all institutions and all citizens, through information and communication; the strategic management of natural resources; the creation of new patterns of mobility. Innovation underpins any response to these new needs and it is crucial to the rapid achievement of targets. It is the essential element for interconnecting all physical systems through digital technologies, but it should be borne in mind that creating a smart city cannot be a merely technological challenge but it must, above all, be a social one. © 2013 WIT Press.