Smart Cities and Digital Divide : Smart Cities are Cities for All?

The Information and Communication Technology (ICT) development in the past few decades has altered the urban environment in every aspect. Urban dwellers are definitely experiencing a newlifestyle, with smart phones, apps and social networks. Smart gadgets are entering our lives as wellas our cities. Cities are becoming smart, providing new ways to deal with urban issues, new ways for citizens to communicate with each other and with urban organizations, new ways for urban authorities, planners and managers to monitor, analyse and plan cities. Now around the globe,Smart Cities are seeking technological solutions to solve upcoming urban problems.Seeking for Smart City definitions reveals the central role of technological solutions for Smart Citydevelopment. In the sole technology driven process, planning a Smart City includes application of innovative technologies to urban projects and establishing ICT department in city municipalities. The technology dominant approach could lead future Smart Cities into centralized computationalcontrol centers, ruled and run by people in power and almost neglect the users of the smart city and the many social impacts of ubiquitous cities on citizens of smart planet. However, as more cities are involved in Smart City planning, cultural, societal and ecologicalmovements influence the way planners perceive Smart Cities, alter the role that policy-makers see for Smart Cities and turn it to a policy driven process. Eventually concerns of social equity alsoenter the Smart city framework. One of the main concerns in smart cities especially in cities whit high level of digital divide is to avoid reinforcing polarization in urban regions. This article takes Mashhad, a mid size and leader in smart city movement in Iran, as a case study and evaluate some of its smart features in terms of meeting social equity issue. Therefore the conclusion clarifies where Mashhad stands in achieving social equity goals in its smart city vision?

Keywords:

Digital Divide , Inclusive Smart Cities , Smart Cities , Smart Cities Planning , Social Impacts of Technology