SAE Update - November 2022 - 13

Smart Cities Will Never Happen...
...we should build them anyway.
TECH FOCUS:
SmArT CiTiES
The United Nations attempted
to reconcile these definitions, but
really only succeeded in creating
yet more definitions. The UN
Development Programme states,
" Smart cities use technology and
innovation to improve the urban
environment. " And that's
arguably a great definition, but it
both lacks specificity and
overstates the situation. If I buy
a fancy coffee-making machine
with two dozen modes and more
computing power than the
Apollo 11 spacecraft carried for
my family, I'm using technology
and innovation to improve my
home environment. But does a
coffee machine make my home
smart? Cities can, and should,
use technology and innovation
to improve the urban
environment, because it's 2022
and that's their job.
I've had countless
conversations with local
government and community
leaders, talking about their city's
goals, visions, and plans to
become a smart city. One city
leader told me they were
working on a web portal so
residents could apply for permits
online, which is a smart idea, but
we've had websites since the
late 1990s. Another said they
UPDATE
planned to implement vehicle sensors to improve
traffic light timing, which is a smart idea, but cities
have used adaptive signal controls for two decades.
While these are great ideas, and cities should
absolutely do these and more projects, are these
indeed smart city projects? I'd argue that they're not.
There's also an inherent problem with the term
" smart city " because smart is a relative term - for
something to be smart, something else must be
dumb, or at least less smart. So, when a city declares
itself to be a smart city, everything that city does
going forward is smart, because why would a city
staffer or elected official spend taxpayer money on
doing dumb things? The term smart city creates an
expectation that is both fallacious and useless.
In my mind, the problem is that a smart city is seen
as a goal, when in reality it is a journey. A city can
never become smart, but it can and should do all
manner of smart things. President (and former
Brigadier General) Dwight D. Eisenhower famously
said, " ...plans are useless, but planning is
indispensable, " and this applies equally well to
military operations and local governments. It is the
act of deciding to use more technology and
innovation that makes cities smart, the end result
doesn't matter. Cities that choose to implement
technology and focus on innovation become
responsive cities, capable of efficiently serving their
residents by intelligently managing and orchestrating
the balletic chaos of an urban cityscape.
People have had enough with empty promises and
wasted tax dollars. Local governments should drop
the term smart cities, and focus instead on developing
and implementing civic technologies in meaningful
ways that meet the needs and expectations of
residents and taxpayers. n
November 2022
13
SAE Update - November 2022

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