Many cities in the United States are pursuing agendas to implement ICT-based solutions to tackle urban challenges, thus achieving the ‘smart city’ label. While the discussion on this urban... Show moreMany cities in the United States are pursuing agendas to implement ICT-based solutions to tackle urban challenges, thus achieving the ‘smart city’ label. While the discussion on this urban development paradigm has revolved around the intensive use of technologies, the academic literature increasingly calls for shifting the focus to the people living in the cities. This paper argues that to achieve a people-centred smart city, cities should include the perspectives of all the local stakeholders. Under this assumption, this paper provides the views of the local stakeholders in a medium-sized city in Tennessee, Chattanooga. Particularly, this study explores their perceived smart city concept, the ethical standards that should guide smart city projects, the desired future projects in their community, and the barriers to implementing them. The data was collected using a combination of participatory budgeting, five focus groups, and twenty-eight interviews with city dwellers, entrepreneurs, university faculty, non-profit members, and government officials. The results suggest that, far from the image of a highly technological city, the stakeholders envision a city dedicated to improving the quality of life and environmental sustainability. Furthermore, to achieve this smart city, the projects need to be based on full transparency and the promotion of social inclusion. In contrast to the dominant trend towards the privatization of urban space, this study finds that the stakeholders prefer public based smart city projects such as ICT-based public transport services. However, its successful implementation will have to overcome the barriers caused by funding constraints, public acceptance, and political interests. Cities may use the results of this study to design more responsible smart city projects that strike an optimal point between citizen engagement and technological applications and innovations while supporting all stakeholders’ needs. Show less
This article argues that the intersection of time and space in large parts of the Levant is, above all, precarious. With a close analysis of two meaningful places in Beirut – the shrine of Rafic... Show moreThis article argues that the intersection of time and space in large parts of the Levant is, above all, precarious. With a close analysis of two meaningful places in Beirut – the shrine of Rafic Hariri and the nightclub B018 – the article seeks to tease out how such a precarious chronotope is given form, meaning and value through narratives, practices and spatial design. Moreover, the article builds upon Walid Sadek’s conceptualisation of shared mourning as a possibility for a new sociality under Lebanon’s precarious conditions. It argues that despite their engagement with loss, the two sites under scrutiny here do not allow for such an ethical position. The findings of the analysis are relevant for the Levant more broadly as the flows of refugees in recent years have produced new and particularly precarious geographies inscribed with a profound sense of loss and grief. Show less
