Creating an Equitable Smart City

As smart technology becomes a pervasive part of our everyday lives—from what we wear to how we interact with our environment—cities have a big role to play in ensuring that it is applied to the public interest. While an ethical smart city seeks to create public awareness for issues ranging from the value of smart city solutions to privacy, it is critical that an equitable smart city ensures inclusion despite the different capabilities available to individual members of the city. This chapter covers thoughts and ideas on addressing the required inclusivity, the need for a minimum level of universal coverage, the ability to ensure commonality of understanding, and a means of providing a trusted service. Connectivity is a critical feature of the connected Smart City with significant discussions, so this topic is covered in greater detail.