Sustainable Smart City Transitions: Theoretical Foundations, Sociotechnical Assemblage and Governance Mechanisms

This book enhances the reader’s understanding of the theoretical foundations, sociotechnical assemblage, and governance mechanisms of sustainable smart city transitions.

Drawing on empirical evidence stemming from existing smart city research, the book begins by advancing a theory of sustainable smart city transitions, which forms bridges between smart city development studies and some of the key assumptions underpinning transition management and system innovation research, human geography, spatial planning, and critical urban scholarship. This interdisciplinary theoretical formulation details how smart city transitions unfold and how they should be conceptualized and enacted in order to be assembled as sustainable developments. The proposed theory of sustainable smart city transitions is then enriched by the findings of investigations into the planning and implementation of smart city transition strategies and projects.

Focusing on different empirical settings, change dimensions, and analytical elements, the attention moves from the sociotechnical requirements of citywide transition pathways to the development of sector-specific smart city projects and technological innovations, in particular in the fields of urban mobility and urban governance.

This book represents a relevant reference work for academic and practitioner audiences, policy makers, and representative of smart city industries.

The chapters in this book were originally published as a special issue of the Journal of Urban Technology.

Luca Mora is Professor of Urban Innovation at The Business School of Edinburgh Napier University, Scotland, UK, and at the Academy of Architecture and Urban Studies of Tallinn University of Technology (TalTech), Estonia.

Mark Deakin is Professor of Built Environment at the School of Engineering and the Built Environment of Edinburgh Napier University, Scotland, UK.

Xiaoling Zhang is professor in the Department of Public Policy of City University of Hong Kong, China.

Michael Batty is Bartlett Professor of Planning at University College London, where he chairs the Centre for Advanced Spatial Analysis (CASA).

Martin de Jong is professor at Erasmus School of Law and Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University Rotterdam, The Netherlands, and a Distinguished Visiting Professor at Fudan University, Shanghai, China.

Paolo Santi is Principal Research Scientist at Senseable City Lab, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA, and Research Director of the Institute of Informatics and Telematics, National Research Council, Pisa, Italy.

Francesco Paolo Appio is Associate Professor of Innovation at SKEMA Business School, France.