The Rebranding of Newcastle as a Smart City. Cui Bono
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 22064606 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Emmanuelle Avril (0000-0002-9084-2708, Université Sorbonne Nouvelle, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2022 |
| Volume | 15 |
| Publication date | 2022-01-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Angles (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2274-2042 • E-ISSN: 2274-2042 |
| Publisher | OpenEdition (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.4000/angles.5798 |
| OpenAlex | W4311160662 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 25 |
The city of Newcastle, regional capital of North East England and home to “the UK’s smartest street” located a short distance from its brand new Helix district, is described as having successfully transitioned from a traditionally industrial city to a “smart” city, able to use digital tools to address issues such as congestion, pollution, waste reduction and parking, with the dual objective of “helping people to live better lives” and of making the city more attractive to businesses, investors, international students, and tourists. While ubiquitous in political and academic discourse, the idea of “smart city” is strikingly absent from general public discussion, with very low awareness among those whose lives are supposed to be most improved. Criticisms of smart cities tend to focus on the fact that the services associated with smart cities constitute a very lucrative market, on the lack of residents’ involvement in changes that will directly affect their everyday life, and on the potential for misuse of the data collected. Drawing primarily from a range of published material such as policy documents, newsletters, working papers, announcements, websites, and brochures produced by the key players of the smart city, as well as from conversations with ordinary residents, this article aims to contribute to the discussion on smart cities by confronting official discourses with “actually existing” practices, through the case of the mid-sized city of Newcastle. It explores the uses of smart city tools and discourse to rebrand the city of Newcastle and revitalise civic pride, setting the smart city promises against actual improvements to the lives of local residents as well as their perceptions of their city. The first section of the article sets out the elements of the smart city to show how the characteristics of the city of Newcastle made it an ideal terrain for experimentations; the second section analyses the deployment of the smart city agenda in the city, focusing on the discourses and perceptions of the range of players involved. The third and final section seeks to understand who is set to benefit the most from Newcastle’s transition to a “smart city”. The conclusion presents a nuanced assessment of the potentialities and limits of the smart city
Business · Internet privacy · Political science · Politics · Pride · Public relations · Rebranding · Smart city · Sociology · Human Mobility and Location-Based Analysis · Innovative Approaches in Technology and Social Development · Law · Smart Cities and Technologies · Marketing
Urban Planning and the Smart City
How Cities Learn
The ‘actually existing smart city’
Critical interventions into the corporate smart city
Making sense of smart cities
Being a ‘citizen’ in the smart city
Urban resilience for whom, what, when, where, and why
The future of the city centre
Competitive urbanism and the limits to smart city innovation
Varieties of smart urbanism in the UK
The sensor desert quandary
The Experimental City
Will the real smart city please stand up
Political Infrastructures
Smart Cities and Green Growth
Smart city as anti-planning in the UK
| Highly cited | No |
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