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Small-Town Russia: Postcommunist Livelihoods and Identities: A Portrait of the Intelligentsia in Achit, Bednodemyanovsk and Zubtsov, 1999-2000 (BASEES/Routledge Series on Russian and East European Studies #Vol. 12)
by Anne WhiteThis book examines a number of key questions about social change in contemporary Russia - issues such as how people survive when they are not paid for months on end, 'the New Poor', the falling birth rate, why so many Russian men die in middle age, whether regional identities are becoming stronger, and how people's sense of 'Russianness' has developed since the creation of the Russian Federation in 1992. It examines these issues by looking at actual experiences in three small Russian towns. It includes a great deal of original ethnographic research, and, by looking at real places overall, provides a good sense of how different aspects of social change are interlinked, and how they actually affect real people's lives.
Small Voluntary Organisations in the 'Age of Austerity'
by Pauline McgovernThis book analyses the dynamics that underlie the awarding of public funding to small voluntary organisations in the UK. Using Bourdieu's later work on state power, the author argues that these competitions for grants, loans and contracts are neoliberal funding 'games'. Such games tempt grassroots organisations, she demonstrates, not just because they provide funding but because they confer a symbolic profit by defining the 'winner' and improving status. Taking part in these neoliberal funding games, however, can adversely affect the structure and development path of these organisations. Yet her conclusion is upbeat, focusing on the opportunities as well as the challenges that neoliberalism offers grassroots organisations in recompense for the moral weight that they hold within state discourse. Within supportive coalitions and with a robust evidence base that re-politicises neoliberal orthodoxy, in fact, they can choose to negotiate alternative futures within state policy or to withdraw from these funding games altogether. This thought-provoking work will appeal to students and researchers of sociology and social policy, along with scholars of Bourdieu, civil society and the voluntary sector.
The Smallest Anthropoids
by Leila M. Porter Susan M. Ford Lesa C. DavisThis volume represents a comprehensive examination of the newly recognized callimico/marmoset clade, which includes the smallest anthropoid primates on earth. It will explore these diminutive primates in their entirety, with sections on phylogeny, taxonomy and functional anatomy, behavioral ecology, reproductive physiology, as well as address critical conservation issues and the need for conservation action. The topics specifically selected for this volume are pivotal for understanding the evolutionary adaptations and divergence of any primate group, and especially one as diverse and curious as this. The discoveries of new taxa over the last fifteen years along with new genetic data have transformed this group from three genera (one with only a distant relationship to the others) and five recognized species, to five closely related genera, comprising at least 22 species. This volume will be the first to synthesize data on these newly recognized taxa. This volume is an international endeavor, bringing together primary callimico and marmoset researchers from around the globe, including Brazil and the United States as well as Greece, Italy, Switzerland, and Germany. One of the merits of this volume is that it will serve as a readily accessible work that includes the major findings of several key international researchers whose work has not been easily available to English-speaking scholars. In addition, it draws together lab and field researchers, geneticists, anatomists, and behaviorists in an integrated volume that will provide the most detailed and thorough work on either callimicos or marmosets to date. This volume will also provide a timely forum for identifying future avenues of action necessary for more fully understanding and protecting this intriguing primate radiation.
Smallest Circles First: Exploring Teacher Reconciliatory Praxis through Drama Education
by Mindy R. CarterDrawing from studies with pre- and in-service teachers in Quebec, Smallest Circles First looks at how teacher agency engages with the educational calls to action from Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Using drama education and theatre, Smallest Circles First explores how the classroom can be used as a liminal educational site to participate in reconciliatory praxis. Smallest Circles First presents several arts-based educational research examples that illustrate how the arts provide a space for students, teachers, and communities to explore and learn about reconciliation praxis and responsibilities. By implementing arts-based counter-narratives set against settler Canadian history and geography, Smallest Circles First considers the implications of systemic racism, colonization, and political, social, and economic ramifications of governmental policies. Tangible examples from the book showcase how teachers and students can use the arts to learn specifically about their responsibilities in engaging with Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission, in addition to how this work can still meet curricular learning outcomes.
The Smallholder Tea Economy and Regional Development: Perspectives from India
by Abdul HannanThis book discusses the smallholder tea economy and regional development opportunities in India. It first gives a conceptual overview of Plantations and Smallholders in the Tea Economy including some comparisons and examples from Smallholders tea development in Afro-Asian countries like Sri Lanka, Kenya, Nepal, Bangladesh, Indonesia. The spatiotemporal analysis of the growth and development of smallholders in India and its tea producing states is then analyzed in more detail with highlights on the production, tea area, estimated employment, livelihood pattern, and market structure in relation to government policies and programmes. Two major tea producing states of India, i.e., Assam and West Bengal are then discussed in more detail (farm size, land relations, and trade relations between Bought Leaf Factories and Smallholders in both the states along with some bottom-up development initiatives). In these regions, smallholders have emerged as sizable presences in the tea industry in 1990s. In a next step, the growth of Industrial Development Cooperative (INDCO) Tea Factories in Nilgiris of Tamil Nadu in the Post-Reform period is analyzed. The introduction and growth of SHG model in plantations by Tea Board in India and their success stories, as well as the policies like Tea Marketing Control Order, 2003 and 2015 are examined and analyzed. The book concludes with the policy suggestions and an in-depth analysis of alternatives to overcome the current crisis.Hence, the book fills the research gap in the tea sector and is helpful for practitioners, policy planners, academics and University libraries, government agencies, and the regulatory body like Tea Board of India. Apart from them, the book is of great help in Smallholder Tea Associations and Federations, SHGs and Cooperatives, NGOs which exist in tea supply chain and also work for the unorganised sector in India. The book is a conglomerate of information and database developed from various secondary and primary sources and illustrated through case studies. It can be a useful document for better planning, policy making, and strategies for local economic development.
Smalltime: A Story Of My Family And The Mob
by Russell ShortoOne of Newsweek's Most Highly Anticipated New Books of 2021 Family secrets emerge as a best-selling author dives into the history of the mob in small-town America. Best-selling author Russell Shorto, praised for his incisive works of narrative history, never thought to write about his own past. He grew up knowing his grandfather and namesake was a small-town mob boss but maintained an unspoken family vow of silence. Then an elderly relative prodded: You’re a writer—what are you gonna do about the story? Smalltime is a mob story straight out of central casting—but with a difference, for the small-town mob, which stretched from Schenectady to Fresno, is a mostly unknown world. The location is the brawny postwar factory town of Johnstown, Pennsylvania. The setting is City Cigar, a storefront next to City Hall, behind which Russ and his brother-in-law, “Little Joe,” operate a gambling empire and effectively run the town. Smalltime is a riveting American immigrant story that travels back to Risorgimento Sicily, to the ancient, dusty, hill-town home of Antonino Sciotto, the author’s great-grandfather, who leaves his wife and children in grinding poverty for a new life—and wife—in a Pennsylvania mining town. It’s a tale of Italian Americans living in squalor and prejudice, and of the rise of Russ, who, like thousands of other young men, created a copy of the American establishment that excluded him. Smalltime draws an intimate portrait of a mobster and his wife, sudden riches, and the toll a lawless life takes on one family. But Smalltime is something more. The author enlists his ailing father—Tony, the mobster’s son—as his partner in the search for their troubled patriarch. As secrets are revealed and Tony’s health deteriorates, the book become an urgent and intimate exploration of three generations of the American immigrant experience. Moving, wryly funny, and richly detailed, Smalltime is an irresistible memoir by a masterful writer of historical narrative.
Smart and Sustainable Urban Ecosystems: Proceedings of Smart and Sustainable Cities 2022 (Springer Geography)
by Maria Korneykova Viacheslav Vasenev Elvira Dovletyarova Riccardo Valentini Sergey Gorbov Denis Vinnikov Diana DushkovaThis book provides multidisciplinary approaches to smart and sustainable urban ecosystems. Urbanization is a global tendency, and up to 70% of the world population is projected to live in cities by 2050. How will this rapid urbanization alter the face of the world? What are the environmental consequences of megacities’ expansion? What are smart solutions to make life in cities safe, comfortable, and environmentally friendly? These and other important questions are addressed by the conference Smart and Sustainable Cities (SSC). This year’s theme for the conference will be « Sustainable urban ecosystems: challenges and solutions». Megapolises are complex ecosystems. Air and water quality, vegetation, and soils in megapolises are exposed to anthropogenic influence. Studying negative environmental consequences of the anthropogenic and technogenic pressures is among the key tasks of urban ecology and environmental impact assessment. Advanced approaches and smart technologies to monitor, model, and assess environmental consequences and risks in megapolises will be widely discussed at the conference. Searching for solutions of the environmental problems of modern megapolises will be the key point of the conference. Successful experiences of sustainable urban development and nature-based solutions to support climate adaptation, carbon neutrality, and human health will be presented in the conference proceedings.
Smart Ball: Marketing the Myth and Managing the Reality of Major League Baseball
by Robert F. Lewis IISmart Ball follows Major League Baseball's history as a sport, a domestic monopoly, a neocolonial power, and an international business. MLB's challenge has been to market its popular mythology as the national pastime with pastoral, populist roots while addressing the management challenges of competing with other sports and diversions in a burgeoning global economy.Baseball researcher Robert F. Lewis II argues that MLB for years abused its legal insulation and monopoly status through arrogant treatment of its fans and players and static management of its business. As its privileged position eroded eroded in the face of increased competition from other sports and union resistance, it awakened to its perilous predicament and began aggressively courting athletes and fans at home and abroad.Using a detailed marketing analysis and applying the principles of a "smart power" model, the author assesses MLB's progression as a global business brand that continues to appeal to a consumer's sense of an idyllic past in the midst of a fast-paced, and often violent, present.
Smart but Scattered: The Revolutionary "Executive Skills" Approach to Helping Kids Reach Their Potential
by Richard Guare Peg DawsonThere's nothing more frustrating than watching your bright, talented son or daughter struggle with everyday tasks like finishing homework, putting away toys, or following instructions at school. Your "smart but scattered" child might also have trouble coping with disappointment or managing anger. Drs. Peg Dawson and Richard Guare have great news there's a lot you can do to help. The latest research in child development shows that many kids who have the brain and heart to succeed lack or lag behind in crucial "executive skills"--the fundamental habits of mind required for getting organized, staying focused, and controlling impulses and emotions. Learn easy-to-follow steps to identify your child's strengths and weaknesses, use activities and techniques proven to boost specific skills, and problem-solve daily routines. Small changes can add up to big improvements--this empowering book shows how.
Smart but Scattered--and Stalled: 10 Steps to Help Young Adults Use Their Executive Skills to Set Goals, Make a Plan, and Successfully Leave the Nest
by Peg Dawson Richard Guare Colin GuareWhether you're a young adult who is stalled on the journey to independence--or a concerned parent still sharing the family nest--this compassionate book is for you. Providing a fresh perspective on the causes of failure to launch, the expert authors present a 10-step plan that helps grown kids and parents work together to achieve liftoff. Learn why brain-based executive skills such as planning, organization, and time management are so important to success, and what you can do to strengthen them. You get downloadable practical tools for figuring out what areas to target, building skills, identifying a desired career path, and making a customized action plan. Vivid stories of other families navigating the same challenges (including father and son Richard and Colin Guare) reveal what kind of parental support is productive--and when to let go.
Smart but Scattered Teens: The "Executive Skills" Program for Helping Teens Reach Their Potential
by Colin Guare Peg Dawson Richard Guare"I told you, I'll do it later." "I forgot to turn in the stupid application." "Could you drive me to school? I missed the bus again." "I can't walk the dog--I have too much homework!"If you're the parent of a "smart but scattered" teen, trying to help him or her grow into a self-sufficient, responsible adult may feel like a never-ending battle. Now you have an alternative to micromanaging, cajoling, or ineffective punishments. This positive guide provides a science-based program for promoting teens' independence by building their executive skills--the fundamental brain-based abilities needed to get organized, stay focused, and control impulses and emotions. Executive skills experts Drs. Richard Guare and Peg Dawson are joined by Colin Guare, a young adult who has successfully faced these issues himself. Learn step-by-step strategies to help your teen live up to his or her potential now and in the future--while making your relationship stronger. Helpful worksheets and forms can be downloaded and printed in a convenient 8 1/2" x 11" size. See also the authors' Smart but Scattered (with a focus on 4- to 13-year-olds) and their self-help guide for adults. Plus, Work-Smart Academic Planner: Write It Down, Get It Done, designed for middle and high school students to use in conjunction with coaching, and related titles for professionals. Winner (Third Place)--American Journal of Nursing Book of the Year Award, Consumer Health Category
Smart Cities: Innovations, Challenges and Future Perspectives (S.M.A.R.T. Environments)
by Leonidas G. Anthopoulos Sushobhan Majumdar Vinay KandpalThis book aims to integrate new technologies and adaptation tools into the process of smart city planning. It also emphasizes the value and importance of modern technologies such as IoT and data science as a smart technology for the formation of a smart city. The authors believe that various technologies in a smart city will reduce all the problems for the sustainable growth and future prospects of the city. The first section of this book discusses the innovation of new technologies (AI, data science, block chain, etc.) that has flourished in recent decades which will make the city smarter. This section also describes that block chain and IoT (Internet of Things) are two transformative technologies that can greatly impact smart cities by enhancing security, improving transparency, and enabling efficient management of resources. The second section of the book explains about the uses of AI tools and smart technologies (like waste management, public safety and security) for the development and management of smart cities. This chapter also describes AI-powered systems that are integrated into smart buildings to optimize energy usage, enhance occupant comfort, and improve building management. These systems can adjust lighting and HVAC settings based on occupancy, learn user preferences, and provide personalized energy efficiency recommendations. The third portion of the book investigates the recent challenges and barriers of smart city that have been faced by the smart cities in the recent decades. This section also describes various challenges and barriers for the implementation of IoT sensor, AI technologies, etc., for the formation of a smart city. The future prospects of a smart city are the main theme of the last chapter. In this section, an attempt has been made about the future vision and outlook of the smart city. This chapter also describes different approaches (like smart grid, societal smart city, smart city model, etc.) for the future planning and management of the city.
Smart Cities: Governing, Modelling and Analysing the Transition
by Mark DeakinSmart city development has emerged a major issue over the past 5 years. Since the launch of IBM’s Smart Planet and CISCO’s Smart Cities and Communities programmes, their potential to deliver on global sustainable development targets have captured the public’s attention. However, despite this growing interest in the development of smart cities, little has as yet been published that either sets out the state-of-the-art, or which offers a less than subjective, arm’s length and dispassionate account of their potential contribution. This book brings together cutting edge research and the findings from technical development projects from leading authorities within the field to capture the transition to smart cities. It explores what is understood about smart cities, playing particular attention on the governance, modelling and analysis of the transition that smart cities seek to represent. In paving the way for such a representation, the book begins to account for the social capital of smart communities and begins the task of modelling their embedded intelligence through an analysis of what the "embedded intelligence of smart cities" contributes to the sustainability of urban development. This innovative book offers an interdisciplinary perspective and shall be of interest to researchers, policy analysts and technical experts involved in and responsible for the planning, development and design of smart cities. It will also be of particular value to final year undergraduate and postgraduate students interested in Geography, Architecture and Planning.
Smart Cities and Connected Intelligence: Platforms, Ecosystems and Network Effects (Regions and Cities)
by Nicos KomninosInternet and World Wide Web platforms, big data analytics, software, social media and civic technologies allow for the creation of smart ecosystems in which connected intelligence emerges and disruptive social and eco-innovation flourishes. This book focuses on three grand challenges that matter for any territory, no matter where it is located: (i) smart growth, a path that more and more cities, regions and countries are adopting having realised the unlimited potential of growth that is based on knowledge, innovation and digital technologies; (ii) safety and security, which is a pre-requisite for quality of life in a world of intense social, natural and technological threats; and (iii) sustainability, use of renewable energy, protection of living ecosystems, addressing climate change and global warming in a period of rapid urbanisation that makes established sustainability models and planning patterns quickly obsolete. The core argument of the book is that problem-solving and novel solutions to these grand challenges emerge in smart ecosystems through connected intelligence. It is the broadest form of intelligence that combines capabilities from heterogeneous actors (humans, organisations, machines) and propel problem-solving through externalities and resource agglomeration, user engagement and collaboration, awareness and behaviour change. This book will be of interest to students and researchers of urban and regional studies, innovation studies, economic geography and urban planning, as well as urban policy makers.
Smart Cities and the Poor: Towards an Agenda for Inclusive Urbanization in India
by Alok MishraDeveloping countries worldwide have been embarking on ‘smart cities’ programmes using new technology solutions to improve public services. Faced with severe problems of digital divide, poverty, unemployment, inequality, and financial and social exclusion, these cities have to negotiate hard in order to reach their goals. This book examines urban governance, digital divide, poverty, unemployment, and financial and social exclusion and presents a theoretical perspective on inclusive cities, urbanization, migration, slums,and affordable housing.The book aims at formulating and implementing an agenda for inclusive, equitable, and sustainable urban development in tune with the UN-SDGs, the New Urban Agenda of Habitat III, and India’s new national urban missions. It probes into the scope of adopting inclusionary urban planning, zoning, and housing, financing inclusive city development, and poverty alleviation through municipal finance reforms using findings and lessons from detailed field studies of Indian cities. It also suggests an agenda for slum-free and poverty-free cities in an attempt to make these cities more people-focused, humane, and inclusionary.This book will be of interest to scholars and researchers of political science, policy studies, public administration, urban studies, urban planning and management, urban sociology, and geography, besides being of interest to policy researchers, community workers, grass roots researchers, policymakers, and sociologists.
Smart Cities and the Poor: Towards an Agenda for Inclusive Urbanization in India
by Alok Kumar MishraDeveloping countries worldwide have been embarking on ‘smart cities’ programmes using new technology solutions to improve public services. Faced with severe problems of digital divide, poverty, unemployment, inequality, and financial and social exclusion, these cities have to negotiate hard in order to reach their goals. This book examines urban governance, digital divide, poverty, unemployment, and financial and social exclusion and presents a theoretical perspective on inclusive cities, urbanization, migration, slums,and affordable housing. The book aims at formulating and implementing an agenda for inclusive, equitable, and sustainable urban development in tune with the UN-SDGs, the New Urban Agenda of Habitat III, and India’s new national urban missions. It probes into the scope of adopting inclusionary urban planning, zoning, and housing, financing inclusive city development, and poverty alleviation through municipal finance reforms using findings and lessons from detailed field studies of Indian cities. It also suggests an agenda for slum-free and poverty-free cities in an attempt to make these cities more people-focused, humane, and inclusionary. This book will be of interest to scholars and researchers of political science, policy studies, public administration, urban studies, urban planning and management, urban sociology, and geography, besides being of interest to policy researchers, community workers, grass roots researchers, policymakers, and sociologists.
Smart Cities for Sustainable Development (Advances in Geographical and Environmental Sciences)
by Ram Kumar Mishra Ch Lakshmi Kumari Sandeep Chachra P. S. Janaki Krishna Anupama Dubey R. B. SinghThis book reviews the structure, applications, technologies, governance, environmental sustainability, smart communities, gender space and other issues related to smart cities. The book is divided into four parts. The first one entails the conceptual background, growth and development. The second part presents diverse issues on smart cities in terms of environmental sustainability, the role of the community, and gender space, among others. The third part revolves around economic and technological issues, and the fourth is a compilation of case studies in connection with smart cities. This collection of diverse issues from different locations presents a holistic view of smart cities contributed by authors who have undertaken research projects and implemented their own unique perspectives and methods. A variety of innovative concepts such as digital governance, polycentric structures, geodata repositories, geoweb services and advanced geospatial technologies in smart city planning, urban microclimatic parameters, and urban heat islands provide invaluable knowledge for researchers and practitioners in these fields.
Smart Cities in Asia: Regulations, Problems, and Development (SpringerBriefs in Geography)
by Thanh Phan Daniela DamianThis open access book examines different aspects of smart cities, including technology, urban development, sustainable development, finance, and privacy and data protection. It also covers a wide range of jurisdictions in Asia-Pacific: Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. The book consists of two main parts. The first part includes general chapters that conceptualize smart cities and provide an overview of these cities’ problems such as privacy and data protection concern. The general chapters also discuss the role of public and private sectors in developing and governing smart cities. The second part encompasses country-specific chapters that examine the concepts addressed in the general chapters in practice by analyzing several specific smart city projects.This book provides researchers and practitioners with some knowledge of a smart city and its implication in the Asia context. The book is designed with some general chapters updating the literature on smart cities for readers who are interested in an overview of this concept. Audiences who are curious about how smart cities are perceived and implemented in some Asian jurisdictions are benefited from country-specific chapters. The book is also helpful to general audiences whose interests lay at the intersection of law, governance, and technology.
Smart Cities of Today and Tomorrow: Better Technology, Infrastructure and Security
by Joseph N. Pelton Indu B. SinghHackers, cyber-criminals, Dark Web users, and techno-terrorists beware! This book should make you think twice about attempting to do your dirty work in the smart cities of tomorrow.Scores of cities around the world have begun planning what are known as “smart cities.” These new or revamped urban areas use the latest technology to make the lives of residents easier and more enjoyable.They will have automated infrastructures such as the Internet of Things, “the Cloud,” automated industrial controls, electronic money, mobile and communication satellite systems, wireless texting and networking. With all of these benefits come new forms of danger, and so these cities will need many safeguards to prevent cyber criminals from wreaking havoc. This book explains the advantages of smart cities and how to design and operate one. Based on the practical experience of the authors in projects in the U.S. and overseas in Dubai, Malaysia, Brazil and India, it tells how such a city is planned and analyzes vital security concerns that must be addressed along the way.Most of us will eventually live in smart cities. What are the advantages and the latest design strategies for such ventures? What are the potential drawbacks? How will they change the lives of everyday citizens? This book offers a preview of our future and how you can help prepare yourself for the changes to come.
Smart Citizens, Smarter State: The Technologies of Expertise and the Future of Governing
by Beth Simone NoveckGovernments make too little use of the skills and experience of citizens. New tools--what Beth Simone Noveck calls technologies of expertise--are making it possible to match citizen expertise to the demand for it in government. She offers a vision of participatory democracy rooted not in voting or crowdsourcing but in people's knowledge and know-how.
Smart City in India: Urban Laboratory, Paradigm or Trajectory?
by Binti Singh Manoj ParmarThis book is a critical reflection on the Smart City Mission in India. Drawing on ethnographic data from across Indian cities, this volume assesses the transformative possibilities and limitations of the program. It examines the ten core infrastructural elements that make up a city, including water, electricity, waste, mobility, housing, environment, health, and education, and lays down the basic tenets of urban policy in India. The volume underlines the need to recognize liminal spaces and the plans to make the ‘smart city’ an inclusive one. The authors also look at maintaining a link between the older heritage of a city and the emerging urban space. This volume will be of great interest to planners, urbanists, and policymakers, as well as scholars and researchers of urban studies and planning, architecture, and sociology and social anthropology.
Smart Development for Rural Areas (Regions and Cities)
by André TorreThis thought-provoking book questions the framework of the Horizon 2020 strategy and the policies of smart development. It aims to answer the following question: Is there any possibility for a policy of smart development and smart specialization in rural and peri-urban areas? Based on detailed analytical studies, empirical and econometric methods, as well as various European case studies, several conclusions are drawn. Smart development policies are well adapted to the developed or intermediate regions containing at the same time rural and urban areas, but do not really function for the more rural or more peripheral regions. The development policies of rural areas must be adapted to their particular characteristics, to the structure of their economies (agriculture, small firms), as well as in their diversity (distant regions, intermediate regions, rural areas near the urban areas). It appears interesting to exploit natural and cultural amenities, to develop the multifunctional character of the agriculture, to promote territorial innovation under all its forms, to favor the synergies between the various uses of land and space, and to develop the knowledge on the ecological, socioeconomic processes, as well as on the mechanisms of territorial governance. These results are very important because they question the validity of the H2020 policy and the smart development and smart specialization policies and their applicability to the whole European area, and not only for the most urban and rich areas. It will be valuable reading for students, researchers and policy-makers in regional development, rural studies, spatial planning and economic geography.
The Smart Enough City: Putting Technology in Its Place to Reclaim Our Urban Future (Strong Ideas)
by Ben GreenWhy technology is not an end in itself, and how cities can be “smart enough,” using technology to promote democracy and equity.Smart cities, where technology is used to solve every problem, are hailed as futuristic urban utopias. We are promised that apps, algorithms, and artificial intelligence will relieve congestion, restore democracy, prevent crime, and improve public services. In The Smart Enough City, Ben Green warns against seeing the city only through the lens of technology; taking an exclusively technical view of urban life will lead to cities that appear smart but under the surface are rife with injustice and inequality. He proposes instead that cities strive to be “smart enough”: to embrace technology as a powerful tool when used in conjunction with other forms of social change—but not to value technology as an end in itself.In a technology-centric smart city, self-driving cars have the run of downtown and force out pedestrians, civic engagement is limited to requesting services through an app, police use algorithms to justify and perpetuate racist practices, and governments and private companies surveil public space to control behavior. Green describes smart city efforts gone wrong but also smart enough alternatives, attainable with the help of technology but not reducible to technology: a livable city, a democratic city, a just city, a responsible city, and an innovative city. By recognizing the complexity of urban life rather than merely seeing the city as something to optimize, these Smart Enough Cities successfully incorporate technology into a holistic vision of justice and equity.
Smart Evaluation and Integrated Design in Regional Development: Territorial Scenarios in Trentino, Italy
by Grazia BrunettaSmart Evaluation and Integrated Design in Regional Development puts forward an alternative approach to evaluation in spatial planning - one that focuses on ’territory’ and ’landscape’. The book introduces an innovative evaluation approach, namely Territorial Integrated Evaluation (TIE), a meta-evaluation methodology for designing regional development scenarios. A research team from the Politecnico di Torino applied this methodology experimentally to the practices of spatial planning in Trentino in order to aid the Province in a process of institutional innovation that is still going on today. TIE defines territorial scenarios serving the need for regional economic development as well as the conservation of nature and landscape. A cross-border region, Trentino has a special need to harmonize economic development with the exceptional and internationally renowned value of its landscape which includes the Dolomites, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Therefore TIE set out to design regional development scenarios that integrated various topics - retail, tourism, infrastructures, nature and landscape. By testing out TIE in practice in this extraordinarily dynamic institutional context, the book makes a significant contribution to the discussion about newly emerging approaches to spatial planning that involve multidisciplinary vision, new paradigms in regional development, and institutional learning and capability in decision-making.
Smart Futures, Challenges of Urbanisation, and Social Sustainability
by Mohammad Dastbaz Wim Naudé Jamileh ManoochehriThis book tackles the challenges posed by accelerating urbanization, and demystifies Social Sustainability, the least understood of all the different areas of sustainable development. The volume’s twin focus on these profoundly intertwined topics creates a nuanced and vitally important resource. Large migrations from rural areas to cities without appropriate planning and infrastructure improvements, including housing, education and health care optimization, have created significant challenges across the globe. The authors suggest technology-rich strategies to meet these challenges by careful application of data on population growth and movement to the planning, design, and construction of operational infrastructures that can sustainably support our increasingly rapid population growth.