The Concept of 'Smart City' and Criticism within the Context of its Transforming Meaning

Abstract

When the acceleration of migration in cities and the size of population are examined, it is seen that 30% of the world population lived in cities in 1950 and this ratio has increased to 50% in 2010. According to the researches, it is predicted that 60% of the population in 2030 and 70% of the population in 2050 will live in the cities. In the face of the rise of population, urbanization rates, and the rapidly depleted resources, to introduce urban solutions with the help of developing technologies and to create sustainable cities in every dimension has made the idea of 'smartness of cities' by making the development of smart approaches compulsory. The approach that includes these dynamics is called 'Smart city It is discussed the emergence of the concept of 'Smart City,' the shaping of the concept according to the urban processes and the different purposes, how the explanatory elements of the concept such as 'smart economy, smart people, smart governance, smart mobility, smart environment, smart living' affected these processes in this study. Besides, it is aimed to clarify the unclear lines of the concept. The importance of a society that can effectively use smart methods in solving environmental and social problems and sustainability is emphasized in this study. The concept was evaluated critically by a different point of view and conclusions were made in this direction. It has been drawn attention to the process of transformation and differentiation of the concept of 'Smart City' which constitutes the main idea of this article, and the concept has been examined in a way as not been discussed before. In this context, criticisms about meaning and value change towards the concept of 'Smart City' have been put forward.Thus, the importance of integrating the concept with urban multi-tier processes has been emphasized.