Modes of making smart cities: Or,practices of variegated smart urbanism

The ‘actually existing’ smart city is not a monolith. It is not directed by a universal logic, nor does it develop in a standardised way. As recent research has argued, the spatial, material, and political contexts of cities have major influence over what smart urbanism looks like in practice. This paper adds analytical depth to, and broadens the geographical scope of, research on the variegated modes of making smart cities. Based on empirical research in multiple Australian cities we use three case studies to explore three different modes of smart urbanism, each one centred on the interests of a different key actor: corporate-centric, citizen-centric, and planner-centric. These different modes can, and do, co-exist in the same city. At times, they are competing logics that fight to pull the city in different directions. Yet, they can also work together to shape smart city initiatives. In describing these different modes, we pay particular attention to the ways that these projects and strategies must contend with the already existing spatial, cultural, and political contexts of each place.     

Making (in) the smart city: The emergence of makerspaces

Critical approaches to the smart city concept are used to begin highlighting the promises of makerspaces, that is to say, those emerging urban sites that promote sharing practices; exercise community-based forms of governance; and utilize local manufacturing technologies. A bird’s-eye-view of the history of makerspaces is provided tracing their roots back to the hacker movement. Drawing from secondary sources, their community-building, learning and innovation potential is briefly discussed. Makerspaces, this essay argues, can serve as hubs and vehicles for citizen-driven transformation and, thus, play a key part in a more inclusive, participatory and commons-oriented vision of the smart city.     

The effects of cultural dimension on ICT innovation: Empirical analysis of mobile phone services

ICT Innovation is one of the major forces for socioeconomic development. It is the key element to spur growth of the economy of a nation. Several studies have shown that culture is a crucial determinant of innovations. This study examines the effect of socio-cultural factors on ICT innovation with specific focus on the mobile banking services. Research was conducted on 220 respondents from sampled population in South Africa. The questionnaire used in this study was developed based on previous studies that have proven validity. The findings indicate that culture is an appropriate concept to describe how innovation in information and communication technology can be influenced by human behavior.     

The impact of innovation and gratification on authentic experience,subjective well-being,and behavioral intention in tourism virtual reality: The moderating role of technology readiness

Despite the increasing amount of attention paid to virtual reality (VR) tourism and the rising importance of VR tourism, a theoretically integrated model of behavior has not been developed. To fill this void, we build and test a framework based on both innovation diffusion and uses and gratifications theories to explain why people participate in VR tourism. The moderating role of VR tourists’ technology readiness (optimism and innovativeness) between subjective well-being and behavioral intention is also examined. Results demonstrate that authentic experience and subjective well-being are affected by simplicity, benefit, compatibility (attributes of innovation diffusion), informativeness, social interactivity, and playfulness (uses and gratifications attributes). Behavioral intention is more positively influenced by subjective well-being than by authentic experience. The moderating role of technology readiness between subjective well-being and behavioral intention is stronger in individuals with high optimism and innovativeness than their counterparts with low optimism and innovativeness.