فوکو و شهر هوشمند Foucault and the smart city

1. Introduction The expression ‘smart city’ has recently become a leitmotiv in the vision of future city and urban development. Meanwhile, the current smart cities concept can appear decidedly ambiguous, since it seemingly leaves its definition up to considerable interpretation. The ‘smart city’ appears predominantly as an efficient, technologically advanced, green and socially inclusive city, and has attracted increasing attention from academia, industry, and government. In this paper, I explore smart city narratives from a different, perhaps unusual, Foucauldian perspective to uncover its ‘discursive formation’ – that is to consider the ways in which the debate is framed. By providing another dimension in understanding the ‘smart city’, and offering a different set of perspectives to pin down the nature and essence of the ‘smart city’, I propose this unique approach in order to stimulate discussion on the relationships between technology, design and policy thinking, specifically focusing on future challenges in the smart city scenario. Twenty-seven interviews were conducted with experts on smart city research and development, mostly from UK, and some others from the leading smart cities across the globe (Dublin, Barcelona, and Beijing). These experts were asked questions regarding their prior experience with the smart city, their understandings of what it means for a city to be ‘smart’, and what other potentials (i.e. policy, knowledge mobility and inter/trans-disciplinarity etc.) they’ve perceived in the smart city. This paper synthesises the responses collected throughout the research with the current literature and discussion concerning the relative proximity of the smart city vision, thereby providing a critical reflection on both the notion of the ‘smart city’ and ideas about developments or smart city ‘trajectories’ (Neirotti et al., 2014). This paper does not aspire to produce a total critique of the smart city, denying its utility theoretically. As Grudin and Poltrock (2012) formulate the issue: adopting a Foucauldian approach may, or may not, help to formulate testable hypotheses; but it certainly provides a vocabulary and a motivation for any debate on the ‘smart city’ and, in the process may contribute to design ideas and recommendations. Ultimately the ideas discussed in this paper seek inform and impact any future thinking around smart city design and development.