TRACK 8 – Smart sustainable cities, regions, and communities

Track Chair '23
Gabriela Viale Pereira
University for Continuing Education Krems, Austria
Judy Backhouse
United Nations University (UNU-EGOV), Portugal
Track Chair '23
Manuel Bolívar
University of Granada, Spain

The world is amid a massive wave of urban growth and rural depopulation, generating opportunities but also problems and challenges. Digital technologies offer significant capabilities for addressing and managing them and making cities, regions, and communities smarter and more sustainable in social, economic, and environmental terms. It is noted that residents of both urban and rural communities and their surrounding environments are increasingly connected through intelligent or smart technologies. This offers a higher likelihood of improved wellbeing and prosperity while challenges at the complex intersection of technology and society emerge. This Track aims at exploring how society is managing and dealing with urban challenges by exploiting the capabilities offered by digital technologies in search of innovative solutions leading to a better quality of life, economic development, and sustainability. This Track explores the opportunities, challenges, and implications of smart digital initiatives in areas such as transportation, health and education, urban and environment-friendly planning, energy efficiency, digital infrastructures, entrepreneurship, as well as democratic processes, governance, and transparency at a community, local, regional and even national cross-border level.