Smart to green: smart eco-cities in the green economy

Abstract

Drawing on examples from various cities, the chapter traces the convergence between eco-urbanism and smart urbanism in the past two decades. The chapter begins by tracing the eco-city and smart city’s conceptual trajectories, before moving on to consider how these have become enmeshed into what has been called the ‘smart eco-city’ from the mid-2010s onwards. The chapter then moves on to consider, briefly, the broad terrain around the ‘green economy’. The smart eco-city is placed within a broader concern with harnessing Big Data, the Internet of Things, digital lifestyles and infrastructures to connect the urban to green economy visions, strategies and pathways. Concluding, the discussion highlights the divergence between mainstream smart eco-urbanism and potential alternatives that emerge when considering urban social sustainability more closely.