Knowledge Agora



Similar Articles

Title Introducing the Smart City to Children: Lessons Learned from Hands-On Workshops in Classes
ID_Doc 36005
Authors Clarinval, A; Simonofski, A; Henry, J; Vanderose, B; Dumas, B
Title Introducing the Smart City to Children: Lessons Learned from Hands-On Workshops in Classes
Year 2023
Published Sustainability, 15, 3
Abstract Smart cities are receiving a lot of attention from researchers and practitioners as they are considered potential solutions to challenges (e.g., traffic congestion and waste management) faced by cities. As a result, the term "smart city" is recurring in political discourses and the news. Moreover, smart cities are transitioning from strong and technological orientations toward inclusive and participative orientations, and citizens are expected to take an active part in their design. However, the smart city concept remains obscure to the majority of the public; although many participation methods exist for adults, few have been implemented for children, who remain on the sidelines. Our objective is to address the lack of research on innovative initiatives to (1) educate children on the smart city concept and (2) include them in citizen participation dynamics. To achieve this, we propose a novel hands-on workshop where children learn about the smart city concept, are challenged with a collective urban planning exercise and develop a digital citizen participation method. This paper describes the workshop conducted and reports on lessons learned from its evaluation; the workshop involved 299 children from the ages of 12 to 14. It showed success in improving the children's understanding of the smart city concept. We then propose future inclusive smart city research directions grounded in the evaluation results and the feedback received from multiple practitioners.
PDF

Similar Articles

ID Score Article
45161 Simonofski, A; Dumas, B; Clarinval, A Engaging Children in the Smart City: A Participatory Design Workshop(2019)
37565 Pellegrino, MA; Roumelioti, E; Gennari, R; D'Angelo, M Smart City Design as a 21st Century Skill(2022)
38082 Shtebunaev, S; Gullino, S; Larkham, PJ Planning the Smart City With Young People: Teenagers' Perceptions, Values and Visions of Smartness(2023)Urban Planning, 8, 2
39702 Koplin, M; Siegert, S; Neuvonen, A; Salo, K; Kerney, K; Skelton, C; Culén, A; Nadelkovski, I The Smart City as Shared Design Space(2017)
43296 Liu, DJ; Huang, RH; Wosinski, M Development of Smart Cities: Educational Perspective(2017)
39082 Giela, M The Human Element in the Context of Smart Cities(2023)Management Systems In Production Engineering, 31, 3
40040 Papangelis, K; Saker, M; Lee, JH; Jones, C Smart Cities at Play: Lived Experiences, Emerging Forms of Playfulness, and Problems of Participation.(2020)
45599 Castilla, JEM; Müller, AR A smart city for all citizens: an exploration of children's participation in Norway's smartest city(2024)International Planning Studies, 29, 1
39249 Spinney, J Valuing "Othered" Rationalities in the Smart City: Examining Children's Cycling from a Justice Perspective(2024)
42902 Simonofski, A; Asensio, ES; De Smedt, J; Snoeck, M Citizen Participation in Smart Cities Evaluation Framework Proposal(2017)
Scroll