30 thought-provoking picks on smart cities beyond the hype

If you are tired of the same celebratory songs, the same techno-optimistic keynotes or the same narrow vision of smart cities, maybe you can try this list. It is not a comprehensive attempt of any single article I found during the last years, but a selection of some readings that helped me to have a broader perspective on trying to understand when this buzz started, what is on it of value for citizens´ lives and how to discern the different points of view about the role of technology in urban life. Many others are missing, particularly my list of academic papers and books on the topic (I will share it next weeks), but it contains the main arguments to downsize the euphoria, the main urban issues that should be included in the smart city equation and the names of people I try to keep an eye on.

• 'Smart City' Planning Needs Just the Right Balance - WSJ.com
• EUKN - "The current discussion on ‘smart cities’ is based on a too limited idea ...
• Technology Is Almost Irrelevant for Smart Cities To Succeed
• Taylor & Francis Online :: Will the real smart city please stand up?
• Technology Alone Won't Save Our Cities | Planetizen
• Anthony Townsend: The Battle for the Smart City - YouTube
• The Automation of Rio: Smart City or Digital Tyranny? | Humanizing Technology | ...
• Your next mayor: A computer - Salon.com
• Surely there's a smarter approach to smart cities? (Wired UK)
• The technological battle for Smart Cities; A. Townsend for WOBI - URENIO Watch
• Sensible or sinister? The growth of 'smart' thinking | Guardian Sustainable Business
• Critical Predictability!?
• Adam Greenfield on Another City is Possible / PICNIC Festival 2011
• Smart cities, sensors and their potential side effects | ZDNet
• How Smart Are Smart Cities Getting?
• Finding a Smarter Approach to "Smart Cities" | TheCityFix.com
• Is Smart Cities The Next Big Market Worth Pursuing?
• Are 'smart cities' not as smart as they think they are? | Grist
• Is there a downside to "intelligent cities" or "smart cities"? | Kaid Benfield's Blog | Switchboard, from NRDC
• Can you have a private city? The political implications of 'smart city' technology
• Beyond the "smart city" | Urbanscale
• "Intelligent City Model" Complements Smart Growth - Doesn't Replace It! | Planetizen
• What Matters: Talking back to your intelligent city
• 'Smart Growth' Replaced by 'Intelligent Cities' | Planetizen
• Urban Lab Global Cities (ULGC): Can cities be ecologically smart?
• The Battle for Control of Smart Cities | Fast Company
• Next American City » Buzz » Let's Be Smart about Intelligent Cities
• The street as platform
• Mediated Cityscapes 01: Four Statements About Urban Computing /by @serial_consign | CreativeApplications.Net
• Worldchanging: Bright Green: Walkshed Technologies and the Smart City

All of them were an inspiration for my post on the topic:

• Bring research to the streets, not to cities without people
• Daily scenes in an intelligent city
• The intelligence of a city is on the streets
• A compilation of resources on smart cities
• Una ciudad sin personas no es un laboratorio urbano
• Tecnologías emergentes en el funcionamiento urbano. Promesas y límites para la sostenibilidad urbana
• La smart city sin personas, historia de un bluf
• Smart city. Implicaciones políticas y sociales
• De la ciudad sostenible a la smart city. No perder la perspectiva