Contextualizing smart urbanism: Emergent geography of smartness and happiness in a digitalizing world

Abstract

<p>The prevalent smart urbanism narratives commonly rest on the premise that the growth of smart cities through ubiquitous technologies is inevitable and decontextualized, with increased smartness improving efficiency and happiness. This study examines the spatial smartness-happiness variation among 113 cities worldwide, revealing patterns deviating from normal expectations. Our regression analysis of city-level data reveals diverse smartness-happiness relationships contingent upon varying regional conditions, with a stronger and positive correlation observed from the cities of the Global North and a weaker and non-linear pattern identified in the Global South including a negative association found from South America. Further analysis explores the impact of specific components of urban smartness on urban happiness, identifying urban structural characteristics, such as urban infrastructure conditions and service provision, as a significant positive predictor. Contrary to popular belief, technology displays an overall negative correlation with happiness with significant regional variations. Smart cities—universally promulgated as the banner and embodiment of state <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/economics-econometrics-and-finance/governmentality" title="Learn more about governmentality from ScienceDirect's AI-generated Topic Pages">governmentality</a> for place promotion—remain deeply embedded in place-specific regional conditions, implying the need to go beyond a technologically deterministic mentality and take on board seriously cities’ locality and human-centered considerations.<br></p>