Journal of Iranian Architecture & Urbanism(JIAU)

Examining the Smartness Status of Tehran City from the Perspective of the Right to the City

Document Type : Excerpted from a doctoral thesis

Authors

Kiarash Kazemi 1
Maryam Mohammadi 2

1 PhD Candidate of Public Affairs, School of Public Policy and Leadership, Greenspun College of Urban Affairs, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, United States.

2 Associate Professor, Department of Urban Design, Faculty of Architecture and Urban Planning, Iran University of Art, Tehran, Iran.

https://doi.org/10.30475/isau.2025.443821.2134
Abstract
Extended Abstract
Background and Objectives: The Today, the city in its various dimensions is rapidly moving towards digitalization. All over the world, various dimensions of the city such as economic, social, political and technological dimensions have been digitalized or are in the process of being digitalized. In recent years, special attention has been paid to the concept of smart city, in this regard, through different approaches to this concept, approaches such as the right to a smart city have been considered. Therefore, the aim of the present article is to examine this approach in the city of Tehran.

Methods: Based on the objective of this research, after reviewing the literature in the selected field, the dimensions and components of the right to the smart city, considering the current conditions of Tehran from the perspective of researchers (in the two areas of the right to the city and the smart city), have been derived using the constructivist paradigm and qualitative content analysis. Semi-structured interviews were used to collect data, and the information obtained was coded, categorized, and then the main and sub-concepts representing the conceptual framework of the right to the smart city in Tehran were formulated based on semantic similarities. Researchers’ identification method was purposive in the first step, and four individuals (two researchers in the right to the city and two in the smart city) were initially selected, followed by snowball sampling to identify others, resulting in theoretical saturation through interviews with 24 researchers. Subsequently, the Tehran Smart City Plan (2021), the comprehensive plan document (2007), and the Fourth Plan for the Development and Progress of Tehran City (2022) were examined through qualitative content analysis to identify the extent of their emphasis on the dimensions of the right to the smart city.

Findings: The fBased on the implementation of the texts, 210 open codes, 58 concepts, 40 subcategories and 11 main categories were extracted, which are as follows:
- Right to smart technology- This category is related to two subcategories: inability to provide hardware technologies and inability to connect to the network.
- Right to smart data- This category is related to three subcategories: access to data, data transparency and data correction and reproduction.
- Right to smart security- This category is related to four subcategories including: information security, transparency in the use and accountability of data monitoring institutions, privacy protection and information control in the direction of the dominant ideology.
- Right to smart infrastructure- This category is related to the subcategories of smart distribution, consumption and monitoring of fuel, electricity, water, smart waste collection and the creation of smart infrastructure.
- Right to Smart Services- Includes the subcategories of Internet services, smart administration, and transparency in Internet services.
- Right to Smart Governance- This category is related to the three subcategories of transparent access to government data, accountability, and administrative services for efficient governance.
- Right to Smart Economy- This right is related to the four subcategories of virtual economic development, decent work and economic inclusion, support for innovation, and smart banking.
- Right to Smart Mobility- This category is related to the seven subcategories of smart urban transport system integration, cost reduction, application development, non-participation, sustainable transport, increased safety, and smart distribution of goods.
- Right to Smart Environment- This category is related to the three subcategories of access to environmental data, environmental resilience, and sustainable development.
- Right to Smart People- This category includes four subcategories of access to digital and smart literacy, education and learning, public space, and development of well-being with a smart city.
- Right to Smart Life- This category is related to three subcategories of home, smart healthcare, and increased security with smart control.
A review of documents showed that in the Tehran Comprehensive Plan (2007), only five dimensions of the right to a smart city were considered, including the right to mobility, environment, people, infrastructure, and the right to a smart economy. In the Fourth Plan for the Transformation and Progress of Tehran Based on the Realization of Urban Justice (2012), the most attention is paid to the right to smart data, and the right to mobility, people, and smart life are not addressed. The local model of Smart Tehran (2012) has paid the most attention to the right to smart infrastructure, but has not paid attention to the right to smart security.

Conclusion: Based on the findings, it seems that the goal of planning a smart city in Tehran should be to realize the right to a smart city and move towards the public interest. The right to a smart city in various dimensions can be realized in Tehran if the components of each dimension are formulated, implemented, and manifested in accordance with the conditions and characteristics of Tehran. Some of the suggestions that can be effective in realizing the right to a smart city in Tehran are as follows:
1. Creating a type of governance that, considering the conditions of Tehran and the demands of citizens, has the necessary legitimacy to advance smart city programs;
2. Clarify the use of surveillance cameras, organizations, and individuals who have direct access to their data;
3. Developing a comprehensive program to teach new technologies to the elderly and less privileged groups so that they can access the smart city;
4. Creating a transparent online platform to hold various surveys in different neighborhoods of Tehran under the supervision of citizen representatives;
5. Formation of local groups selected by citizens as supervisors of Tehran Smart City programs;
6. Allocation of special budget for providing new technologies for less privileged people by Tehran Municipality;
7. Allocation of special budget to provide free access to the network for less privileged people.

Graphical Abstract

Examining the Smartness Status of Tehran City from the Perspective of the Right to the City

Highlights

- Analyzing the concept of the right to a smart city in Tehran from the perspective of researchers. 
- Identifying the important dimensions in the concept of the right to a smart city in the literature and its components, specifically in the case of Tehran.

Keywords

Smart City
Technology
Right to the City
Right to the Smart City
Tehran City
Subjects
  1. Allwinkle, S., & Cruickshank, P. (2011). Creating smart-er cities: An overview. Journal of Urban Technology, 18(2), 1–16.
  2. Anastasiu I. (2019) Unpacking the Smart City Through the Lens of the Right to the City: A Taxonomy as a Way Forward in Participatory City-Making. In: de Lange M., de Waal M. (eds) The Hackable City. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-2694-3_13.
  3. Artopoulos, G., & Costa, C. S. (2019). Data-Driven Processes in Participatory Urbanism: The “Smartness” of Historical Cities. Architecture and Culture, 7(3), 473-491. doi:10.1080/20507828.2019.1631061
  4. Bakıcı, T., Almirall, E., & Wareham, J. (2013). A smart city initiative: the case of Barcelona. Journal of the knowledge economy, 4(2), 135-148.
  5. Batty, M. (2012). Smart Cities, Big Data. Environment and Planning B: Planning and Design, 39(2), 191–193. https://doi.org/10.1068/b3902ed
  6. Batty, M., Axhausen, K. W., Giannotti, F., Pozdnoukhov, A., Bazzani, A., Wachowicz, M., et al. (2012). Smart cities of the future. European Physical Journal Special Topics, 214(1), 481–518.
  7. Breuer, Jonas & Walravens, Nils & van der Graaf, Shenja & Mariën, Ilse. (2020). The right to the (smart) city, participation and open data. 10.4324/9780429324468-10.
  8. Calzada, I. (2021). The right to have digital rights in smart cities. Sustainability, 13(20), 11438.
  9. Caragliu, A., Del Bo, C., & Nijkamp, P. (2011). Smart cities in Europe. Journal of Urban Technology, 18(2), 65–82.
  10. Cardullo, P. (2019), "Smart Commons or a “Smart Approach” to the Commons?", Cardullo, P., Di Feliciantonio, C. and Kitchin, R. (Ed.) The Right to the Smart City, Emerald Publishing Limited, Bingley, pp. 85-98. https://doi.org/10.1108/978-1-78769-139-120191006
  11. Cardullo, P., & Kitchin, R. (2019). Being a ‘citizen’in the smart city: Up and down the scaffold of smart citizen participation in Dublin, Ireland. GeoJournal, 84(1), 1-13.
  12. Commission Europa, (2023). Retrieved from https://commission.europa.eu
  13. Dameri, R. P. (2013). Searching for smart city definition: A comprehensive proposal. International Journal of Computers & Technology, 11(5), 2544–2551.
  14. Dutton, W. H., Blumler, J. G., & Kraemer, K. L. (1987). Wired cities: Shaping the future of communications: GK Hall & Co.
  15. Edvinsson, L. (2006). Aspects on the city as a knowledge tool. Journal of Knowledge Management, 10(5), 6–13.
  16. Engelbert, J. (2019), "Reading the Neoliberal Smart City Narrative: The Political Potential of Everyday Meaning-making", Cardullo, P., Di Feliciantonio, C. and Kitchin, R. (Ed.) The Right to the Smart City, Emerald Publishing Limited, Bingley, pp. 43-55. https://doi.org/10.1108/978-1-78769-139-120191003
  17. Gabrys, J. (2014). Programming environments: Environmentality and citizen sensing in the smart city. Environment and Planning D: Society and Space, 32(1), 30–48.
  18. Galič, M., & Schuilenburg, M. (2020). Reclaiming the smart city: Toward a new right to the city. Handbook of smart cities, 1-18.
  19. Giffinger, R., Fertner, C., Kramar, H., Kalasek, R., Pichler-Milanović, N., & Meijers, E. (2007, October). Smart cities ranking of European medium-sized cities. Tech. Rep.
  20. Graham, S., & Marvin, S. (1999). Planning cybercities: Integrating telecommunications into urban planning. Town Planning Review, 70(1), 89.
  21. Greenfield, A. (2006). Everyware: The dawning age of ubiquitous computing. Boston: New Riders.
  22. Habibi, Seyyed Mohsen (2012). Panel: Henri Lefebvre's Theories on the City and Urbanization, Campus of Fine Arts. [In Persian]
  23. Hall, R. E., Bowerman, B., Braverman, J., Taylor, J., & Todosow, H. (2000). The vision of a smart city. 2nd international life …. Vol. 28. 2nd international life … (pp. 7–).
  24. Hancke, G. P., de Carvalho e Silva, B., & Hancke, G. P, Jr. (2013). The role of advanced sensing in smart cities. Sensors, 13(1), 393–425.
  25. Harrison, C., Eckman, B., Hamilton, R., Hartswick, P., Kalagnanam, J., Paraszczak, J., & Williams, P. (2010). Foundations for smarter cities. IBM Journal of Research and Development, 54(4), 1–16.
  26. Harvey, D. (2008). The right to the city. New Left Review 53 (September-October), 23-40.
  27. Heitlinger, s., Bryan-Kinns, N, and Comber, R. (2019). The Right to the Sustainable Smart City. In Proceedings of the 2019 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI '19). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, Paper 287, 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1145/3290605.3300517
  28. Hollands, R. G. (2008). Will the real smart city please stand up? Intelligent, progressive or entrepreneurial? City, 12(3) 303-320
  29. Ishida, T. (2002). Digital city Kyoto. Communications of the ACM, 45(7), 76–81.
  30. Ishida, T., & Isbister, K. (2000). Digital cities: technologies, experiences, and future perspectives: Springer Science & Business Media.
  31. Kitchin, R. (2014a). The data revolution: Big data, open data, data infrastructures and their consequences: Sage.
  32. Kitchin, R. (2014b). The real-time city? Big data and smart urbanism. GeoJournal, 79(1), 1-14.
  33. Kitchin, R. (2019a). The ethics of smart cities: Using big data and AI to manage cities creates many ethical issues, but efforts to address these concerns can be just as contentious. https://www.rte.ie/brainstorm/2019/0425/1045602-the-ethics-of-smart-cities/. Accessed 20 Aug 2020.
  34. Kitchin, R. (2019b). Toward a genuinely humanizing smart urbanism. In P. Cardullo, C. Di Feliciantonio, & R. Kitchin (Eds.), The right to the smart city (pp. 193–204). Bingley: Emerald Publishing.
  35. Kitchin, R., Cardullo, P. and Di Feliciantonio, C. (2019), "Citizenship, Justice, and the Right to the Smart City", Cardullo, P., Di Feliciantonio, C. and Kitchin, R. (Ed.) The Right to the Smart City, Emerald Publishing Limited, Bingley, pp. 1-24. https://doi.org/10.1108/978-1-78769-139-120191001
  36. Komninos, N. (2006). The architecture of intelligent cities. 2nd international conference on intelligent environments (pp. 13–20).
  37. Komninos, N. (2014). The age of intelligent cities: smart environments and innovation-for-all strategies: Routledge.
  38. Leclercq, E. M., & Rijshouwer, E. A. (2022). Enabling citizens’ Right to the Smart City through the co-creation of digital platforms. Urban Transformations, 4(1), 1-19.
  39. Lefebvre, H. (1968). La droit à la ville. Paris: Éditions Anthropos.
  40. Lefebvre, H. (1996). Writing on cities (E. Kofman & E. Lebas, Trans.). Oxford: Blackwell.
  41. Morozov, E., & Bria, F. (2018). Rethinking smart cities: Democratizing urban technology. New York: Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung.
  42. O‟Connor, A., Zerger, A., & Itami, B. (2005). Geo-temporal tracking and analysis of tourist movement. Mathematics and Computers in Simulation, 1-2 (69), 135–150.
  43. Picon, A. (2015). Smart Cities: A Spatialised Intelligence: Wiley.
  44. Purcell, M. (2002). Excavating Lefebvre: The right to the city and its urban politics of the inhabitant. GeoJournal 58(2-3), 99-108.
  45. Shaw, J., & Graham, M. (2017). An informational right to the city? Code, content, control, and the urbanization of information. Antipode, 49(4), 907–927.
  46. Shelton, T., Zook, M., & Wiig, A. (2015). The ‘actually existing smart city’. Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society, 8(1), 13-25.
  47. Shepard, M. (2011). Sentient city: Ubiquitous computing, architecture, and the future of urban space: The MIT press.
  48. Su, K., Li, J., & Fu, H. (2011, September). Smart city and the applications. In 2011 international conference on electronics, communications and control (ICECC) (pp. 1028-1031). IEEE.
  49. Tayebi, A. (2013). Planning activism: using social media to claim marginalized citizens’ right to the city. Cities, 32, 88-93.
  50. Thatcher, J., O’Sullivan, D., & Mahmoudi, D. (2016). Data colonialism through accumulation by dispossession: New metaphors for daily data. Environment and Planning D: Society and Space, 34(6), 990–1006.
  51. Townsend, A. (2013). Smart cities: Big data, civic hackers, and the quest for a new utopia. New York: W.W. Norton & Co.
  52. Vanolo, A. (2018). Cities and the politics of gamification, Cities, v. 74, pp. 320-326.
  53. Vanolo, A. (2019). Playable urban citizenship: Social justice and the gamification of civic life. Paolo Cardullo Cesare Di Feliciantonio Rob Kitchin (ed.) The Right to the Smart City. Emerald Publishing Limited, 57-69.
  54. Willis, K.S. (2019), "Whose Right to the Smart City?", Cardullo, P., Di Feliciantonio, C. and Kitchin, R. (Ed.) The Right to the Smart City, Emerald Publishing Limited, Bingley, pp. 27-41.

  • Receive Date 15 February 2024
  • Revise Date 24 April 2024
  • Accept Date 05 June 2024

Home

Guide for Authors

Submit Manuscript

Reviewers

Contact Us