Smart childhoods. When young people become the focus of urban governance

Abstract

The smart city vision comprises the hope of overcoming pressing ecological, economic and social urban crises, as well as the aspiration to transition to a resource-saving and livable city of the future. It is conspicuous that smart city initiatives specifically address children and young people. Drawing on approaches from governmentality and geographical childhood studies, we explore how the practically unchallenged ideal of a city shaped by innovation optimism changes notions of childhood and drives its social valorization. First we use discourse analysis to examine how EU smart city lighthouse projects invest in children's immediate environment and use it as a laboratory for smart urban development. We then discuss how smart city refurbishment influences the everyday lives of children and young people and how it adresses their needs. For this we draw on a case study of the smart city project Vienna Simmering. Our results show that young people, as smart citizens, are obliged to support urban development policy objectives and to implement the corresponding courses of action into their everyday lives. This results in new relationships of dependency that need to be critically examined.