Planning Support for Smart Cities in the PostCOVID Era

Abstract

The COVID-19 crisis has transformed the importance of smart cities, highlighting the vital role of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) in crisis management and post-pandemic life. Originally a branding strategy, smart city technologies are now essential infrastructure facilitating remote work and online interactions. This urgency has prompted urban planners to rethink how smart cities are planned and for whom. While Planning Support Systems (PSS) were once seen as crucial for smart city planning, they do not ensure equitable access. Key concerns include reinventing governance models and ensuring access through various channels. The special issue, “Planning Support for Smart and Sustainable Cities,” conceived before COVID-19 and published during the pandemic, includes seven articles reflecting on the evolving landscape of smart cities and PSSs, addressing unprecedented challenges, demands, and opportunities.

Haozhi Pan School of International and Public Affairs and China Institute for Urban Governance, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China panhaozhi@sjtu.edu.cn

Stan Geertman Human Geography and Spatial Planning, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands

Brian Deal Department of Landscape Architecture, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, IL, USA

Jungfeng Jiao Urban Information Lab, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA

Bo Wang School of Geography and Planning, Sun Yat-sen University, China

For more information, please visit: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10630732.2022.2069938