Smart city as a smart service system: Human-computer interaction and smart city surveillance systems

Abstract

Smart city services, smart applications and smart devices form an ecosystem of tools and artifacts that challenge, and times even disrupt, conventions, norms, and rites of behavior, thus prompting diverse behavioral changes at the level of the individual, the group, and the society at large. In this view, smart city may be viewed as a – one of its kind – laboratory to query the complex human-computer relationship from a multi-dimensional perspective. By adopting this perspective, this paper queries the existing smart city surveillance systems to identify their key limitations and sources of frequently justified controversies. It is argued that to bypass these – first – the value of mesh-technology should be explored. It is also argued that – second – it is necessary not only to bring citizens back in the discussion on smart city, but also to highlight the mechanisms by means of which they might be involved in the co-design of smart city solutions and in urban decision-making. To bridge these two imperatives, smart city is conceptualized as a smart service system and, consequently, a wireless integrated mesh-technology enhanced (WIMTE) smart city surveillance system is elaborated.