Innovations in Designing Smart Cities as Living Labs

Abstract

Now-a-days cities are complex, networked and regularly changing social ecosystems, transformed and shaped through the interaction between different interests and ambitions. Ensuring employment, sustainable development, inclusion and quality of life are important concerns. Infrastructures of cities, addressing these concerns, comprise a diversity of services such as healthcare, energy, education, environmental management, transportation and mobility, public safety. Day by day these services are enabled by broadband infrastructures, wireless sensor networks, Internet-based networked applications, open data and open platforms. The concept of “smart cities” has growing during the last few years to show how investments in human and social capital and modern ICT infrastructure and e-services fuel sustainable growth and quality of life, enabled by a wise management of natural resources and through participative government. In the context of rising urbanization and new urban challenges such as new urban governances and citizens need for involvement, economical and ecological crises, territorial competitiveness, Smart cities need to find creative solutions for implementing policies and urban projects. In recent past smart cities are fast evolving paving ways for innovative designs of smart cities with both augmented and virtual realities as are reflected in the form of conceptualizing and implementing the Living labs. The paper discusses the basic elements, various facets as well as broad approaches of integration of Living Labs with Smart cities in innovative and interactive ways to improve the sustainable growth and lifestyles of the citizens.