Smart and Sustainable Development from a Spatial Planning Perspective: The Case of Shenzhen and Greater Manchester

Mee Kam Ng, Çağlar Köksal, Cecilia Wong and Yuanzhou Tang
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Mee Kam Ng: Department of Geography and Resource Management, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
Cecilia Wong: Department of Planning and Environmental Management, Manchester Urban Institute, University of Manchester, Manchester M13 9PL, UK
Yuanzhou Tang: Department of Geography and Resource Management, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 6, 1-28

Abstract: This paper proposes an integrative analytical framework to critically review the genesis of smart city development and evaluate its sustainability outcomes from a spatial planning perspective. It argues that historical contexts and modes of governance, together with holistic place-based knowledge, provide important clues to understand the ensuing visions, goals, and objectives, as well as processes and contents of smart city initiatives. Shenzhen (SZ), China’s first special economic zone, and Greater Manchester (GM), the birthplace of the industrial revolution in the United Kingdom, are used to illustrate how the conceptual framework helps reveal two very different pathways towards smart sustainability. SZ, as a pioneering testbed of China’s reforms, is closely directed by top-down initiatives in its smart and sustainable development efforts. GM, given its rich history of local collaboration between the public, private and third sectors, adopts a bottom-up approach to achieve smart sustainability. The case studies prove the robustness of the framework in narrating smart sustainable development in a city-region, highlighting different trajectories and necessary areas for improvement.

Keywords: spatial planning; smart city; sustainability; Shenzhen; Greater Manchester (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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