Smart Cities

MIT Press Essential Knowledge Series

By: Germaine Halegoua

Narrated by: Wendy Tremont King

Over the past 10 years, urban planners, technology companies, and governments have promoted smart cities with a somewhat utopian vision of urban life made knowable and manageable through data collection and analysis. Emerging smart cities have become both crucibles and showrooms for the practical application of the Internet of Things, cloud computing, and the integration of big data into everyday life. Are smart cities optimized, sustainable, digitally networked solutions to urban problems? Or are they neoliberal, corporate-controlled, undemocratic non-places? This volume in the MIT Press Essential Knowledge series offers a concise introduction to smart cities, presenting key concepts, definitions, examples, and historical contexts, along with discussions of both the drawbacks and the benefits of this approach to urban life. 

After reviewing current terminology and justifications employed by technology designers, journalists, and researchers, the book describes three models for smart city development and offers examples of each. It covers technologies and methods, including sensors, public wi-fi, big data, and smartphone apps, and discusses how developers conceive of interactions among the built environment, technological and urban infrastructures, citizens, and citizen engagement.

©2020 Massachusetts Institute of Technology (P)2020 Gildan Media

Good primer, and lullaby

Good info. Not the most revolutionary conclusions, but the reader will put you to sleep.

Rich Information

If you’re looking into how our world will transform in the future, in the real world and not the digital space, this is a great book to read. This book covers how technology and corporate governance is planning to merge with city living. Not in the conspiracy theory way. Just the cut and dry; how things work and what the issues are. I’d give this book an overall 9/10. It’s a cool value add to your world view. Definitely great for a fireside talk, or dinner conversations with your friends/family.

This book isn’t meant to be transformational like a “Principles, by Ray Dalio”, but it definitely lives up to its MIT publication as “essential” knowledge. This knowledge set will provide most all of what you need to know, in order to conduct or introduce conversation in networking groups and high performance circles.

Not to come off as pretentious, but this book definitely does add an “I’m smarter than you are” element to whoever has read it. Overall, this is a good read. I’d recommend it if you’re looking to be forward thinking on the immediate next evolutions of our societies.