The Smart City must be an inclusive and participatory city. Cities no longer belong to one or the other, they belong to those who inhabit them and share from a glocal understanding. Coexistence, respect and collaboration are the fundamental ways for the development of new cities. The correct approach to face the challenges that cities are subjected to should not be anything other than open participation to all the inhabitants of the city through debates, forums, digital platforms, workshops and even cultural events that advocate multiculturalism and the integration.
The technologies applied in cities must make it possible to adapt cities to people and not people to cities. In order for the city to be nourished by policies that reflect social reality, it is necessary that there are digital mechanisms and tools that know how to collect and facilitate channels of citizen participation. These city technologies and applications make it possible for citizens to interact with city councils and the administration to create a living city that feeds directly on citizen perceptions. It is a huge step towards a sustainable, intelligent and participatory city.
Cities must face the challenges through open participation at all levels of the city through debates, forums, platforms, workshops, as well as cultural events that advocate sustainability, multiculturalism and inclusion. These participation formats can and must include a technological base to broaden the social range and facilitate participation to all spheres and human realities, leading to greater richness and diversity of criteria in the creation of a sustainable city and an empowered community. In this way the weight held by the central government is rebalanced to balance it in favor of the citizenry.
An inclusive and participatory city must know how to rely on digital technologies to facilitate the processes of citizen participation and empowerment in search of becoming a Wise City* or wise city. Technology-based applications, platforms, and networks are a clear advance in the co-creation of a collaborative city. The configuration of a city must be achieved where fellow citizens are involved in the management and development of the city and use digital tools to solve and co-create the city.
*Wise City: “The concept of wise cities arises from the growing evidence that smart cities have not managed to create cities more inclusive, sustainable and democratic. One of the great challenges facing urban planners and managers in this century is the design of a people-centred urban model that takes into account the idiosyncrasies of each city and its cultural trajectory in order to avoid an approach that “a unique model for all”. The ultimate goal of the wise city model should be to improve the quality of life of citizens, including their happiness and subjective well-being, in resilient cities.”
JUAN IGLESIAS
ENVIRONMENTAL URBAN PLANNER
NAIDER