The smart city in relation to its environment, perception, and Urban planning process: Lessons for developing countries

Abstract

This research presents some of the key smart city strategies in Spain and the Middle East with a dual objective. Firstly, it aims to underline how the integration of information technologies in city management in the two cases altered the perception and design of the built. Secondly, it argues that they might be a useful example for the urban policy discourse in the developing countries. The two cases represent a different conception of the smart city project. The first one describes an intervention within the consolidated urban fabric of Barcelona in Spain. The second case takes place in the outskirts of Doha in Qatar. Each one was examined from the perspectives of architecture, technology, and communication and the analysis included diverse media, such as textual material, drawings, review of literature, empirical observation, and a critical elaboration of the results with the use of matrixes. Within this variety, it became easier to discuss the processes that are latent when juxtaposing studies on physical space, social practices, and real-time data with urban fabrics, culturally and historically charged. The results revealed the spatial implications that new technologies would have in diverse settings. They also hinted on the way sustainability has become part of the project for the city. Latent under this integration of space and ICT, there are user-driven actions and human interaction with artificial intelligence.