Sustainable and Community-Centred Development of Smart Cities and Villages

Veronika Zavratnik, Dan Podjed, Jure Trilar, Nina Hlebec, Andrej Kos and Emilija Stojmenova Duh
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Veronika Zavratnik: Faculty of Electrical Engineering, University of Ljubljana, Tržaška cesta 25, Ljubljana 1000, Slovenia
Dan Podjed: Institute of Slovenian Ethnology, Research Centre of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts, Novi trg 2, Ljubljana 1000, Slovenia
Jure Trilar: Faculty of Electrical Engineering, University of Ljubljana, Tržaška cesta 25, Ljubljana 1000, Slovenia
Nina Hlebec: Faculty of Electrical Engineering, University of Ljubljana, Tržaška cesta 25, Ljubljana 1000, Slovenia
Andrej Kos: Faculty of Electrical Engineering, University of Ljubljana, Tržaška cesta 25, Ljubljana 1000, Slovenia
Emilija Stojmenova Duh: Faculty of Electrical Engineering, University of Ljubljana, Tržaška cesta 25, Ljubljana 1000, Slovenia

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 10, 1-17

Abstract: The article highlights the need to rethink and reconceptualise the accepted concepts of smart cities and villages by shifting the attention from technology and technological solutions and moving it towards understanding the significance of communities and sustainability. The conceptual framework combines four essential features—community, village, city and sustainability—and analyses the links and relationships between them. A new community-centred approach to development is suggested in order to emphasise that sustainable living cannot be achieved only through technological solutions. Instead, we suggest that to ensure social sustainability, appropriation, and effectiveness of new solutions in the long term, the process has to start, be adapted and led by people and their needs. In this light, the article analyses three dimensions of smart living—energy, mobility, waste—through the prism of rural–urban linkages and the role of ICT. Core principles and recommendations (calm technology, community size, identification of community leaders, surveillance and control issues, community building) for designers of ICT solutions and developmental projects in smart cities and villages are presented. These principles take into account people and communities and combine findings of engineering and social sciences, especially anthropology, psychology, and sociology.

Keywords: smart village; smart city; community-centred development (CCD), sustainable communities; mobility; energy; waste; ICT; quality of life (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (14)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:12:y:2020:i:10:p:3961-:d:356990

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