Baakline: Towards a Smart City—Leading Change into Chouf Souayjani Region

Abstract

In the concept of a smart city, citizens are turned from passive consumers into active and concerned citizens, producers of ideas, content, applications, activities; and choosers of their society. This concept enhances innovation and creativity, seeking social relevance of new/unfamiliar ideas, opportunities for start-up firms, and propensity to entrepreneurial risk. Municipality of Baakline (MBAA) knows that participatory democracy is a key to both tackling the challenges faced by Baakline city and taking advantage of the evolving exciting opportunities. The ``smart city{''} task is about smart governance, communities' engagement, learning and adaptation, and investing in the future by reshaping an entire market and ecosystem. MBAA's approach towards a smart city offers an invitation to reflect and act through pilot projects that are expected to change the mentality of people and integrate this concept in their future plans. The public/private actors are at the heart of MBAA's successful projects.