For years people have been writing about smart cities and trying to define exactly what they are. Several years ago, rather than trying to define what a smart city is, Amy Barker and Miguel Lira asked this question: "What are we really trying to achieve here?"[1] For Barker and Lira, the goal of a smart city should be to make it a place in which people willingly choose to live. They explain, "Maybe the question is not ‘how do I make my city smarter?’. Or even ‘how do I make it more efficient?’ In fact, the question we all have a duty to ask is ‘how do I help to make my city more competitive, and be a place people choose to live, work and play in?’" For years, I have argued that smart city planners should adopt a people-first approach.

Jonathan Reichental, founder of Human Future, agrees that a people-first approach produces the best results. He explains, "The work to create a smarter community will likely be a multi-year effort with clear, bold, and ambitious goals. A meaningful shift must take place in terms of how services are delivered and operations are conducted. Quality of life should be measurably improved and experienced. This kind of game-changing work requires a vision — preferably, one articulated by way of a vision statement that includes a short description of what the organization wants to become. The vision, which is a signpost of where the enterprise is headed, guides all stakeholders in their decision-making and their actions. A smart city vision should be aligned with the city’s broader strategy and approved by the community. In fact, determining a vision for your smart city work is an important way to engage constituents. Don’t stop at the vision, either: It’s the starting point that gets converted to goals, objectives, and then projects."[2]

Smart City Priorities

Guided by an underlying people-first approach, city planners must holistically address capabilities that make all organizations work: people, processes, and technologies.

People. In all cities, including smart ones, there are two stakeholder groups of people: government employees and the public. As Reichental explained, the goal is to figure how the first group can better provide services to the second group in a way that improves everyone's quality of life. Too often, discussions about smart cities begin and end with technology. These discussions, at the very least, should begin with people and processes before ever discussing technologies. Shoshanna Saxe, a professor of engineering at the University of Toronto’s School of Cities, explains, "When people say innovation in cities, they generally mean an invention ... something technological and usually the model of something app or Silicon Valley based. This is false and destructive. There are many, many innovative ideas that are not about apps, gadgets, or Silicon Valley."[3] David Sax, a smart city skeptic, writes, "A city needs places for people to work and live and shop and eat and meet and have fun and exercise and entertain themselves. It needs good public schools, and ways to get kids and teachers safely to them, and money to pay for all those things. No one ever asked for garbage cans to have sensors in them. They just want the trash to be picked up more often."[4]

Processes. Cities are incorporated so that they can provide services to the public. Consultant Alexander Soley writes, "A smart city is composed of infrastructure that supplies city managers, businesspeople, and residents with the ability to connect systems to make the city safer, more efficient, and/or deliver a better quality of life."[5] I would substitute the word "processes" for "infrastructure" in that definition. It's the processes, supported by infrastructure, that really deliver needed services. Bill Gates once noted, “The first rule of any technology used in a business is that automation applied to an efficient operation will magnify the efficiency. The second is that automation applied to an inefficient operation will magnify the inefficiency.” Technology upgrades should never be discussed until processes have been thoroughly vetted to ensure they can be made more efficient by technology. Isaac H. Sutton, founder and Chief Executive Officer at VALO Smart City, asserts, "In general, cities and habitats are posing a dire need to be more connected, more innovative, and more citizen-centric. ... Smart cities have the ability to create safe and sustainable environments that are centered around the wellbeing of their inhabitants. They can and do achieve that successfully by focusing on accessibility, transportation, improved healthcare, and reduced waste to improve social and economic quality. But they are not all about technology."[6] Although individual processes need to be scrutinized, how they work in unison is also important. A “well-rounded view” of a city includes understanding the systems essential for metro-living — and, according to IBM, “people” are the most essential system. In addition to people, IBM believes there are five other core systems smart cities must optimize and integrate. They are: business; transport; communication; water; and energy. I would add a seventh system — waste management (which includes both trash and sanitation).

Technologies. In any discussion of smart cities, one must eventually address emerging technologies that can help make cities operate more efficiently and effectively. Where do you start? Probably with access to broadband connectivity. Adie Tomer and Rob Puentes, senior analysts at the Brookings Institution, bluntly state, “No industry or household in the world, will reach their future potential without access to broadband, it is the electricity of the 21st century.”[7] Freelance technology writer Samudrapom Dam describes how other technologies build on broadband connectivity. He writes, "Technology shapes smart cities by integrating advanced solutions to optimize urban services. Core technologies like the Internet of Things (IoT), big data, artificial intelligence (AI), and 5G enable smarter infrastructure and efficient management systems. These innovations drive improvements in areas such as traffic control, energy efficiency, and digital connectivity, ultimately enhancing the quality of life for city residents. The digital infrastructure that promotes data sharing and enables the development of novel solutions by various stakeholders is critical for the success of smart city initiatives."[8] As Dam notes, AI is one technology that will play a big role in making cities smarter. Many people worry that too much reliance on AI could lead to adverse outcomes. That's why Vijay Gadwal, a Solutions Architect at Dell Technologies, insists that city governments should focus on outcomes. He explains, "Enthusiasm and adoption [of AI] increase when people can understand the impact of the investment, for example, mobility-related use cases that lead to faster commute times and less pollution."[9] At the same time, he notes, "Creating AI at city scale requires a substantial investment. Once in use, AI workloads with powerful GPUs can consume more energy than a typical server. These costs need to be compared to the expected benefits." Finally, he insists that procedures must be in place to avoid the unethical use of AI. He explains, "Cities need to craft policies that govern the use of AI, including how citizen data will be used and protected, how to avoid AI model bias and how to reduce the risk of AI model hallucinations."

Concluding Thoughts

Not every expert believes that full-on digitalization of city functions is a good idea. Many of the skeptics worry about creating a surveillance society. Naveen Joshi, Founder and CEO of Allerin, explains, "Smart cities have the ability to transform the lives of its citizens. However, there is a dark side to these smart cities that can go unnoticed. Smart cities are leveraging modern technologies such as AI and IoT to eliminate various urban problems. Several advanced applications are exhibiting their potential to reduce traffic, energy consumption, pollution, enhance security, and improve citizen participation. Multiple governments are also adopting smart governance in smart cities with a vision to implement the principles of good governance more effectively. Looking at such unmatched potential, various governments are deploying modern technologies and creating new policies for establishing smart cities. Along with multiple benefits, smart cities can introduce several issues such as invasion of privacy, power consumption, and poor data security. Such issues may have drastic repercussions on public welfare and negatively affect citizens’ trust in the system. Governments and smart city planners must develop an effective approach to address the concerns associated with smart cities."[10]

The answer to the question, "Why Are We Still Debating What Makes a City Smart," is complex. Every city has different challenges and meeting those challenges requires various approaches. For that reason, I don't think there is a single good definition of what makes a city smart. Like Barker and Lira, I think the better question is: "What are we really trying to achieve here?" When city planners can answer that question in a way that benefits the public, they will be set on a path that leads in the right direction. And that's smart.

Footnotes

[1] Amy Barker and Miguel Lira, "Smart cities: Are we asking the wrong questions?" SmartCitiesWorld, 18 May 2018.

[2] Jonathan Reichental, "Smart city pitfalls: No clear vision, inadequate governance," Cities Today, 18 February 2021.

[3] David Sax, "Why Smart Cities Aren’t the Future," Builtin, 28 December 2022.

[4] Ibid.

[5] Alexander Soley, "What Is a Smart City and How Do You Make One?" RT Insights, 10 August 2021.

[6] Isaac H. Sutton, "What Makes Smart Cities Smart," Entrepreneur, 24 October 2021.

[7] Adie Tomer and Rob Puentes, “Here’s the Right Way to Build the Futuristic Cities of Our Dreams,” Wired, 23 April 2014.

[8] Samudrapom Dam, "What is a Smart City?" AXO Cleantech, 31 January 2025.

[9] Vijay Gadwal, "AI-Enabled Cities Are The Key To Sustainability," Forbes, 23 September 2024.

[10] Naveen Joshi, "The Dark Side of Smart Cities," BBN Times, 15 April 2021.