Restructuring the smart city from the global south: a structural and dialectical analysis between the virtual and physical urban space

Abstract

This research critically analyses technology-driven development strategies, whether they are seen as an smart initiative or associated with sustainable, resilient and other characteristics. Also, analyses the impact of information and communication technologies on society, and investigates society's dependence on and need for technological innovations in the urban space. The aim is not to stagnate technological innovation, but to direct it towards serving society, the human aspect of the city. This is an intrinsically transdisciplinary endeavour that considers information and communication studies, political economy, urban studies, urban sociology, governance and theories of governability. This research seeks to understand the consequences of technology-driven development and analyse the physical urban space and its dialectical relationship with the virtual environment and its technologies, as well as the reconfiguration of the relations developed in these dimensions, the dynamics of power, the mechanisms of governance, governability and planning of the technologically expanded virtual space, especially in the context of the Global South. Thus, three original aspects of this research can be highlighted: (1) a theoretical framework that contributes to the analyses carried out in the thesis, due to its transdisciplinary and frontier nature; (2) the restructure of the understanding of smart cities through a Global South perspective; and (3) based on the material reality, prepare the ground for strategies, tactics, and future researches to further the comprehension of the smart cities and enable subversive changes.