From smart to empathic cities

This paper acknowledges the contemporary neoliberal mode of operation of Smart Cities.The pitfalls of Smart Cities concerning its propensity towards techno-centric and efficiency-focused governance are identified,with diminutive emphasis on social equity and human-centric urban growth.Thus,the paper elaborates upon an alternative mode of person-environment-interaction based approach towards placemaking:Empathic Cities.This approach implies embracing a shift from efficiency to sufficiency and wellbeing embedded regenerative perspective for conceiving the built environment.First,the variable dimensions of urban growth and governance,which gave rise to the smart city,are contextualized.The embedded neoliberal operational agenda of smart cities are established.On this basis,the un-derpinnings of an empathic city are established by acknowledging the shift from techno-centric to human-centric and from product-based to context-based smart city and wellbeing perspectives.Strategies toward urban development are proposed,such as embracing a regen-erative perspective wherein the city and its constituents need to be understood as interdepen-dent systemic elements while embracing a human-centric and ethical approach.Additionally,a transition from efficiency to sufficiency-oriented practices and a shift towards inclusive modes of participatory governance are proposed as fundamental principles for an empathic future of the built environment.     

A methodological framework for benchmarking smart transport cities

Besides responding to challenges of rapid urbanization and growing traffic congestion, the development of smart transport systems has attracted much attention in recent times. Many promising initiatives have emerged over the years. Despite these initiatives, there is still a lack of understanding about an appropriate definition of smart transport system. As such, it is challenging to identify the appropriate indicators of ‘smartness’. This paper proposes a comprehensive and practical framework to benchmark cities according to the smartness in their transportation systems. The proposed methodology was illustrated using a set of data collected from 26 cities across the world through web search and contacting relevant transport authorities and agencies. Results showed that London, Seattle and Sydney were among the world’s top smart transport cities. In particular, Seattle and Paris ranked high in smart private transport services while London and Singapore scored high on public transport services. London also appeared to be the smartest in terms of emergency transport services. The key value of the proposed innovative framework lies in a comparative analysis among cities, facilitating city-to-city learning.     

Sustainable smart city development framework for developing countries

ABSTRACT

Basic requirements of sustainable smart cities in a developing country are the entitlement of facilities. Here, an index named Smart Sustainable City Development Index (SSCDI) has been developed for three Indian Smart Cities. A hierarchical method has been used to construct the index with multiple layers of indicators capturing characteristics of the dimensions such as social, economic, environment, culture and lifestyle. This index is used to assess performances of the three case study cities based on the scores in various indicators. This SSCDI framework provides a conceptual landscape for developing countries for planning their sustainable urban development and evaluation of performances.     

From distribution networks to smart distribution systems: Rethinking the regulation of European electricity DSOs

Distributed energy resources allow for new business models that have the potential to substantially change today's power system functioning paradigm. In particular, these changes pose challenges for distribution system operators (DSOs) and their regulation alike. This article sheds light on missing aspects in current regulation, recognizing DSOs as regulated monopolies, but also as key players along the supply chain. We provide insights on how regulation should be adjusted so that DSOs are incentivized to facilitate the market entry of welfare-enhancing technologies in a timely fashion, and to manage the distribution system efficiently in the presence of distributed energy resources.     

An action theory-based electricity saving web portal for households with an interface to smart meters

The reduction in electricity consumption by private households is an important factor in the process of enhancing the sustainability of energy infrastructures. The information architecture of an action theory-based smart meter web portal designed to facilitate electricity saving in private households is described with a focus on intervention techniques that support the transition from each stage of action planning to the next. Users are guided in their migration through the stages by the way information is structured. In order to address the gap between intention and action, the focus is on the support of the implementation of planned behavior.     

“低碳城市”理念下中国城市的发展模式转型

阐述了＂低碳城市＂的概念及发展要求,分析了中国城市发展模式的现状,并以＂低碳城市＂为核心理念,从能源、交通、建筑及环保四个方面探索了新的城市规划发展模式,从而为我国低碳城市发展提供了理论基础。     

Development of a smart city planning support tool using the cooperative method

A reduction of environmental burdens is currently required. In particular, proposing a new approach for the construction of a smart city using renewable energy is important. The technological development of a smart city is founded building equipment and infrastructure. However, planning methods and their techniques using the collaboration approach with residents are only just developing. This study aimed to develop a support tool for the construction of a smart city using renewable energy while facilitating consensus-building efforts among residents using the method for a cooperative housing development. We organized the supporting methods for the construction of residential area using the cooperative method. Then, we developed supporting tools that interface the computer with these methods. We examined the support techniques for the construction of a residential area using renewable energy technology by analyzing Japanese cases of a smart city. Moreover, we developed a support tool for the construction of a smart city on a trial basis. We integrated the smart city construction tools and the cooperative housing construction support tool. This tool has a 3D modeling system that helps residents to easily understand the space image as a result of the examination. We also developed a professional supporting tool that residents can consider for cost-effectiveness in renewable energy and its environmental load reduction rate for the planning of a smart city.     

Revising the smart home as assemblage

Abstract

Although aspirations for the ‘smart home’ have existed since the 1950s, the recent understanding of smart technological interventions as ecosystems of policy, material, people, ICT and data that drive social and spatial change, suggests we need to revise the smart home. From increased leisure time to increased energy efficiency – the smart home has promised, and frequently failed to deliver its utopian promises. First, this paper argues the smart home can be conceptualized as an assemblage of social, economic, political and technological apparatuses. Thinking about the smart home as assemblage allows us to see the network of relationships which constitute it, the work they do in the world, and the subsequent possibilities of becoming. Second, the paper offers innovative methodologies for researching the smart home that draws on the agentive capacities of ‘smart’ technologies. Such unpacking is critical to understand the work and possibilities of the smart home. The methodologies are productive for thinking about the future of housing research.     

Smartening up: User experience with smart water metering infrastructure in an African city

Worldwide, smart metering is becoming increasingly prevalent in the utility sector, sometimes as part of extensive smart grid projects or within strategies aimed at the digital transformation of utilities. In the water sector, smart water metering infrastructure has been positioned to alleviate key water management and water access challenges. To date, there has been little empirical investigation into how it is deployed, implemented and experienced by end-users in urban Global South contexts. This study uses a socio-technical lens to address this evidence gap with a mixed-method empirical case study from urban Ghana. Results show smart meters as a utility-centric socio-technical infrastructure, with the water utility having designed the customer out of its current rollout approach. The utility's approach is an incremental one that is responsive to the existing context yet provides limited upgrades and impacts to existing systems and actors. We demonstrate how smart meters are much more than neutral, often shaped through everyday realities but have also become new junctions of friction, mistrust and scepticism between the utility and users. In exploring these issues, we raise questions about the smart metering agenda and related digital transformation policies of utilities, highlighting directions towards more customer-centric design and implementation in the design and deployment of digital water infrastructure.     

Smart grids,smart network companies

The introduction of intelligent technology to turn electricity networks into smart grids is an important vehicle to meet the many challenges modern society poses. However, technology alone will not make energy supply more intelligent and may for the medium and long range even involve risks of intelligence reduction in the larger energy system. Crucially important, yet mostly overlooked is the intelligence of the service company that runs the grids. Based on concepts of knowledge management and learning organizations, the paper develops guiding principles for designing intelligent knowledge infrastructures within companies adopting smart grid technologies. The case study of intelligent SASensor technology, which is currently being introduced by the Dutch power network administrator Alliander, provides an illustration of the argument.     

从"梁陈方案"看历史名城保护与城市结构调整

通过对“梁陈方案”和《城记》中历史事实的思考、分析,目的是温故而知新,运用实证分析的方法,论述“梁陈方案”的核心思想是进行城市结构调整,改变单中心的结构,形成多中心结构布局,是保护旧城、有利新区建设的新旧两全的安排,进一步得出城市结构调整是保护名城重要的方法和措施,科学合理的城市结构调整能够有效保护历史文化名城的结论.     

City approaches to smart city evaluation and reporting: case studies in the United Kingdom

Smart technologies create opportunities for urban development and regeneration, leading to a proliferation of projects/programmes designed to address city strategies around environmental, economic and social challenges. Whilst there is considerable critical debate on the merits of smart city developments, there has been surprisingly little research on the evaluation of smart interventions, and the outcomes of embedded smart technologies for cities and citizens. This examines case-study research undertaken in Birmingham, Bristol, Manchester, Milton Keynes and Peterborough, on city approaches to smart city evaluation and reporting. Findings exemplify contemporary city evaluation and reporting practices, challenges and recommendations to support smart urban development.     

社会分裂——转型中的中国城市面临的挑战

当前 ,我国经济的高速增长为人们带来了巨大的物质财富 ,然而 ,却面临着巨大的社会分裂 ,这一现象违背了人们的理想。本文从社会结构的变化、收入差异的加大、客观社会现实和城市内部的空间隔离等几个方面分析了这一社会问题产生的原因 ,力图能引起进一步的研究和普遍的社会关注 ,以解决这一重大社会难题     

From planning to opportunism? Re-examining the creation of the London Docklands Development Corporation

East London's former docklands have been at the centre of planning and regeneration debates for the past four decades. The setting up of the London Docklands Development Corporation (LDDC) has been variously interpreted as ‘3-D Thatcherism’ in action, a symbol of the death of comprehensive planning and the replacement of a corporatist, Keynesian era of urban policy with a more neoliberal approach. Moving away from simplistic and straightforward interpretations of the processes happening at this time, this article uses new archival and interview material to re-examine the setting up of the LDDC and its early years, revealing a more complex and contradictory picture than existing accounts suggest. It focuses on three themes: changing forms of state intervention; the uncertain ‘break’ in the post-war consensus as evidenced by the changes in approaches to the regeneration of Docklands; and the unintended, disordered process of actual policy change. As such we aim to reveal how shifting visions, modes of governance and practices could compete and co-exist in the midst of seemingly coherent ‘eras’, as Docklands as a place and as an approach to regeneration was constantly made and re-made – a process that continues to this day.     

Locational signals to reduce network investments in smart distribution grids: What works and what not?

Locational pricing can reduce the investment needs arising in distribution networks from the transformation towards smart grids with high shares of renewable generation. We analyse different approaches. Locational signals in a general tariff plan for either energy or network pricing require substantial system reform which impedes feasibility. We propose smart contracts with locational elements as hybrid form. System reform is only modest since contractual solutions emerge in smart grids anyhow. The responsibility for tariff setting stays with the network operator. The regulator’s task is limited to incentivizing efficient network investment and allowing network operators maximum flexibility in contract design.     

Thermal performance of an electrochromic smart window tested in an environmental test cell

This paper describes the results of experimental tests and computer simulation modelling aimed at evaluating the performance of an electrochromic (EC) window with respect to solar control in buildings. The research is carried out by a test-cell equipped with a small area EC double glazing unit (EC-DGU) where one pane consists of an EC device and the other of a clear glass. The performance of the device on global light transmittance control, internal temperature control and solar heat gain control, is investigated in summer-time under real sky conditions as a function of time, test-cell orientation and switching strategies (static and dynamic). Both experiments and numerical analysis show that the decrease of the heat load affecting the test-cell, normalized respect to a clear float glass, is maximum when the EC-DGU is set to its lowest transmitting state and amounts to about 50% for west orientation and about 60% for south orientation. In this latter, thermal load reduction registered when the EC DGU is driven in the dynamic mode (31%) is similar to that of a reflective low-e glazing.     

Survey on communication architectures for wind energy integration with the smart grid

Communication systems are needed to integrate generated power from wind farms with the electrical grid. This paper provides a comprehensive review of available communication technologies, protocols and objectives related to wind energy and electrical grid integration. This paper summarizes the communication system solutions for wind generation. A major obstacle is an absence of unified communication architectures and standards.     

山西煤矿城市的规划探索

就山西煤矿城市在规划中面临的问题 ,从煤矿城市的由来与历史、煤矿城市现存问题、煤矿城市应采取的对策等几个方面作了阐述 ,并对煤矿城市的发展进行了展望     

Household willingness to pay for a smart water metering and monitoring system: The case of South Korea

This paper attempts to appraise the public value of expanding the introduction of a smart water metering and monitoring system (SWMMS) nationwide by adopting a contingent valuation approach of asking about a consumer's preference for a good using a survey of people. Randomly chosen 1000 households were interviewed using the one-and-one-half-bounded question. The monthly public value was obtained as KRW 862 (USD 0.77) per household, equivalent to 6.6% of a water bill. The monthly related cost was calculated as KRW 425 (USD 0.38) per household. Thus, the introduction of an SWMMS would be socially profitable.