Open Cities

While early discussions of Smart Cities viewed the strategy as primarily an exercise in the application of information technology, in The Smart City Guidebook the authors adopt a view that is both pragmatic and full of possibility: considering Smart Cities from the perspective of public officials, city managers and civic organizations. The Smart City Guidebook provides a bridge between the technical advocates of Smart Cities and those in municipal administration who need to adopt and implement such approaches.

As urban populations continue to grow, nearly doubling between 2000 and 2050, challenges in urban quality of life and infrastructure provision require new approaches to maximize the efficient delivery of services and to improve the quality of life of cities. Many cities, both in developing economies, as well as those in developed countries, are embracing strategies that use information and data analytics to address growing challenges in providing adequate water, energy, medical and social care, and transportation services; the so-called Smart City approach.

Smart City approaches not only impact the delivery of municipal services; they also change urban governance models. New roles emerge such as Chief Data Officer and Chief Privacy Officer within the city organization chart. New innovation communities emerge such as Open Data "hackers", as inhabitants become intimately involved in service delivery through open access to information. The Smart City Guidebook demystifies these roles and offers successful examples of these new governance models.