The purpose of smart cities is to create the urban regions of the future. They collect data on a variety of activities and events that occur within the streets and buildings of large municipalities, using IoT as their foundation. While they may improve transportation networks, energy management, public services, and educational access, academics contend that they also introduce new difficulties such as social inequality and privacy concerns.
The eight smart city books listed below answer these issues and provide in-depth understanding of the future of cities. In our list, you’ll find books that meet your needs, whether you’re looking for a general overview or want to go further into specific technologies or concepts.
Top 8 Smart City Books That Are A Must-Read
The following smart city books have been ranked based on the relevancy of their information, reader reviews, the publication date, and the writers’ credibility.
1 | Smart Cities - Big Data, Civic Hackers, and the Quest for a New Utopia
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Year: 2014
Author: Anthony M. Townsend
Pages: 400
With the rising trend of urbanization, cities must be able to provide a safe and enjoyable place for their citizens to live while also considering environmental as well as economic impacts. The book “Smart Cities – Big Data, Civic Hackers, and the Quest for a New Utopia” provides you with detailed insights into the history and future of cities.
The author, Anthony M. Townsend, tells you the story of how urban areas have shaped and evolved throughout the last decades and what has made this change possible. Furthermore, this smart city book also explains how we might live in the future thanks to new solutions and technologies that are being developed at the moment.
To support his findings, the author refers back to a number of case studies on existing smart cities, as well as projects that had a positive impact on sustainable urban development.
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2 | The Smart Enough City: Putting Technology in Its Place to Reclaim Our Urban Future (Strong Ideas)
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Year: 2019
Author: Ben Green
Pages: 240
Ben Green’s book “The Smart Enough City” will provide you with a critical perspective of how smart technology can assist cities today, as well as the threats they can create. The book will open your eyes to new possibilities for urban living in the not-too-distant future.
You will be shown a variety of effects on cities as a result of the usage of technology. The majority of these are concerned with how society and government will interact and function in smart cities.
The author argues that the benefits of smart technology are frequently viewed as a cure for all problems, and that its negative consequences have not been adequately examined. As a result, this book not only explains how smart cities work but also offers ideas that find the right balance between innovation and social equality, as well as justice for the city’s residents.
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3 | Smart Cities For Dummies
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Year: 2020
Author: Jonathan Reichental
Pages: 384
If you are looking for a comprehensive non-technical introduction to the topic of smart cities, the book “Smart Cities For Dummies” can be a good starting point. It outlines the most important aspects of smart urban development and what is necessary to implement innovative technologies, as well as solutions that are providing benefits for citizens.
The book begins by examining historical developments in cities, as well as their challenges and opportunities. After that, you’ll discover how to lay the groundwork for a smart city’s development, including policies, funding, and business models. In the following chapters, author Jonathan Reichental discusses the advantages of leveraging technology and data in the most efficient manner for urban areas.
In order to attain these goals, the city must successfully integrate cybersecurity, privacy, and public safety. This topic will be covered in the next chapter. Finally, the author gives you a glimpse into the future as well as some pitfalls to avoid when implementing smart city ideas.
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4 | Smart Cities: Introducing Digital Innovation to Cities
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Year: 2019
Authors: Oliver Gassmann, Jonas Böhm, Maximilian Palmié
Pages: 230
“Smart Cities: Introducing Digital Innovation to Cities” illustrates both, the benefits of digitalization for modern cities and the challenges they face today. The book will show you how digital solutions lead to new business models and how this affects current municipal governance.
In the twenty-first century, cities face a lot of issues, and ensuring social, environmental, and economic sustainability is vital. The book opens with an overview of these concerns in order to establish the main theme, followed by recommendations for resolving the issues. Among these are the terms “smart environment,” “smart governance,” “smart life,” and others.
Following this, the authors present a number of case studies of existing smart cities and offer recommendations for successfully adopting these solutions. At the end of the book, you’ll get a glance into the future as well as many tools to aid in your understanding of the smart city transformation.
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5 | Uneven Innovation: The Work of Smart Cities
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Year: 2020
Author: Jennifer Clark
Pages: 328
Jennifer Clark addresses the relationship between urban development and technology in her book “Uneven Innovation: The Work of Smart Cities.” The book illustrates the benefits that smart cities may provide to their residents, but it also discusses their drawbacks, particularly from a social standpoint. The author is an Ohio State University professor of city and regional planning.
The book explores the functions and effects of smart cities on society and the local economy. It begins by outlining how urban development has evolved over time and why smart cities have become so important. With the adoption of technology for this environment, the author examines the emergence of new urban entrepreneurship and innovation.
It will also be examined how planning can be used in cooperation with a city’s residents. Lastly, Jennifer Clark presents factors that have started to arrise from the creattion of smart cities that often lead to inequality.
“Uneven Innovation: The Work of Smart Cities” provides a comprehensive look at the negative consequences that new, supposedly innovative urban initiatives can have on society. It’s a must-read for anyone who wants to use technology to improve the way cities run while also understanding the issues they face.
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6 | Smart Cities, Digital Nations: Building Smart Cities in Emerging Countries and Beyond
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Year: 2017
Author: Caspar Herzberg
Pages: 224
Look no further than Caspar Herzberg’s “Smart Cities, Digital Nations: Building Smart Cities in Emerging Countries and Beyond” if you’re seeking for a smart city book that focuses on emerging markets. The author recounts his time at Cisco and how he implemented new innovative solutions aimed at improving modern cities.
You will learn about a range of smart city projects in nations such as India, China, and Saudi Arabia in this book. You’ll learn what motivates a city to explore the application of new technology in public services, transportation, energy, and the economy throughout the chapters. In addition, the author discusses how various stakeholders, such as planners, engineers, consultants, and governments, collaborate to create a successful smart city.
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7 | Blockchain & The Smart Cities: Lessons From Singapore, the World’s Smartest Digital Nation
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Year: 2020
Author: Srinivas Mahankali
Pages: 218
The book “Blockchain & The Smart Cities: Lessons From Singapore, the World’s Smartest Digital Nation” walks you through the use of blockchain technology in cities. It does so by building on the foundation of Singapore, the world’s smartest city. This book is a great fit for anyone interested in how blockchain can be used to construct innovative security, public-service, and finance solutions.
The author, Srinivas Mahankali, presents you with the basics of blockchain technology. This makes it also an interesting read for someone who just wants to get started with the highly complex topic. Furthermore, you will get to understand the significance of the Internet of Things (IoT) for modern cities, as well as how it provides the foundation for smart technology.
Examples of blockchain-based solutions will be shown in the last two chapters. Security systems, emergency response systems, financial products, and government services are among them. Finally, the book devotes a significant portion of its content to real-world blockchain applications in Singapore. This will be an excellent opportunity to learn more about how the country was able to build such a successful smart city.
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8 | Sharing Cities: A Case for Truly Smart and Sustainable Cities
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Year: 2017
Authors: Duncan Mclaren, Julian Agyeman
Pages: 464
It is a difficult effort to create sustainable cities that improve the economy, society, and environment. The authors of “Sharing Cities: A Case for Truly Smart and Sustainable Cities” present a number of case studies that demonstrate how the sharing economy and smart technologies might provide solutions to the current urban development challenges.
Throughout the book, there are case studies that describe the impact of the sharing economy on various cities. According to the authors, merging technology with physical space, as well as applying shared concepts, can provide chances for metropolitan regions to increase sustainability. When it comes to the future of cities, there are also risks that can arise as a result of this type of development, which are covered in detail throughout the chapters.
This book is a must-read for everyone who is interested in the shared economy and wants to learn how smart cities may benefit from it. It’s especially useful because it sheds light on less common sorts of shared business models.
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Conclusion
Each of the presented books describes how smart cities are going to be important to the future of urban development. Many of them also highlight the negative aspects they might create when being implemented. Creating truly smart cities is challenging, but the mentioned books can help decision-makers, planners, developers, investors, and citizens to get an understanding of what is necessary to make it happen successfully.
If you want to learn more about smart cities, smart buildings, sustainability, and PropTech, feel free to take a look at our other blog articles.
