Special issue on smart applications for smart cities - new approaches to innovation: Guest editors' introduction

Abstract

Cities are complex, networked and continuously changing social ecosystems, shaped and transformed through the interaction of different interests and ambitions. Employment, sustainable development, inclusion, security and quality of life are important concerns and in this respect many cities are confronted with a wide range of challenges. Cities, particularly in rural areas, are also facing the implications of ageing population in combination with economic decline [9]. However cities also represent a promise for the future: a vision of freedom, creativity, opportunity and prosperity [4]. More than half of the global population is now urban and projections estimate that this percentage will even grow towards 70 % in 2050 [13]. At the same time, technology is currently promoting unprecedented changes in urban areas, which are often labelled as smart city developments. Internet-based infrastructures of cities, addressing the above mentioned concerns, comprise a diversity of services in areas such as healthcare, energy, education, environmental management, transportation and mobility, and public safety. These services are increasingly enabled by broadband infrastructures, wireless sensor networks, Internet-based networked applications, open data and open platforms. Over the past decade digital technologies have begun to blanket our cities, working together to form the backbone of a large, intelligent infrastructure. Broadband fibre-optic and wireless telecommunications grids are supporting mobile phones, smart phones and tablets that are increasingly affordable. At the same time, open databases - especially about government - that people can read and add to are revealing all sorts of information, and public kiosks and displays in buildings are allowing literate and illiterate people to access information. Add to this foundation a relentlessly growing network of sensors and digital control technologies such as smart meters, all tied together by cheap, powerful computers and our cities are quickly becoming like computers in open air. Against this background, this Special Issue addresses the role of smart applications in cities, especially inasmuch they foster enhanced living and working conditions, new modes of participation and a higher level of engagement of citizens. In this issue we also aim to explore the process of innovating smart applications and how it is intertwined with urban development itself. © 2012 Universidad de Talca - Chile.