Smart cities as spatial manifestations of 21st century capitalism

De Jong, M., Joss, S. and Taeihagh, A. (2024) Smart cities as spatial manifestations of 21st century capitalism. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 202, 123299. (doi: 10.1016/j.techfore.2024.123299)

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Abstract

Globally, smart cities attract billions of dollars in investment annually, with related market opportunities forecast to grow year-on-year. The enormous resources poured into their development consist of financial capital, but also natural, human and social resources converted into infrastructure and real estate. The latter act as physical capital storage and sites for the creation of digital products and services expected to generate the highest value added. Smart cities serve as temporary spatial fixes until new and better investments opportunities emerge. Drawing from a comprehensive range of publications on capitalism, this article analyzes smart city developments as typifier of 21st century capital accumulation where the financialization of various capitals is the overarching driver and ecological overshoot and socio-economic undershoot are the main negative consequences. It closely examines six spatial manifestations of the smart city – science parks and smart campuses; innovation districts; smart neighborhoods; city-wide and city-regional smart initiatives; urban platforms; and alternative smart city spaces – as receptacles for the conversion of various capitals. It also considers the influence of different national regimes and institutional contexts on smart city developments. This is used, in the final part, to open a discussion about opportunities to temper the excesses of 21st century capitalism.

Item Type:Articles (Other)
Additional Information:The study was undertaken as part of the Erasmus Initiative Dynamics of Inclusive Prosperity. It received funding from the Dutch Research Council (NWO, grant no. 482.19.608) and the National Science Foundation of China (NSFC, grant no. 72061137071). Simon Joss's contribution was funded through the ‘data governance’ workstream of the Urban Big Data Centre (Economic and Social Research Council grant no. ES/S007105/1). Araz Taeihagh's contribution was supported by the Singapore National Research Foundation, Prime Minister's Office, Singapore under its Campus for Research Excellence and Technological Enterprise (CREATE) programme (NRF2018-ITS004-0015) and the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore.
Keywords:Smart cities, capital, capitalism, capital accumulation, digitalization, digital economy.
Status:Published
Refereed:Yes
Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID:Joss, Professor Simon
Creator Roles:
Joss, S.Conceptualization, Writing – original draft, Writing – review and editing
Authors: De Jong, M., Joss, S., and Taeihagh, A.
Subjects:H Social Sciences > H Social Sciences (General)
H Social Sciences > HB Economic Theory
College/School:College of Social Sciences > School of Social and Political Sciences > Urban Studies
Journal Name:Technological Forecasting and Social Change
Journal Abbr.:TFS
Publisher:Elsevier
ISSN:0040-1625
ISSN (Online):1873-5509
Published Online:01 March 2024
Copyright Holders:Copyright: © 2024 The Author(s)
First Published:First published in Technological Forecasting and Social Change 202: 123299
Publisher Policy:Reproduced under a Creative Commons licence

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Project CodeAward NoProject NamePrincipal InvestigatorFunder's NameFunder RefLead Dept
304042UBDC Centre TransitionNick BaileyEconomic and Social Research Council (ESRC)ES/S007105/1S&PS - Administration