| Abstract |
We live in a world where every second individual is a city resident. The cities play a significant role in the worldwide economy. According to the report of the United Nations Organization, in 2050 about 67 per cent of the world population will live in the urban territories that is 15 per cent more than in 2014. In order to respond to this tendency, the focus on smart and sustainable urban planning is increased amongst the scientists, urban planners and policy makers. The growing demand for smart cities and smart urban planning appears from the steady increase of the information technologies and is caused by the following factors: global financial crisis, climate change, urban areas growth, population growth, cultural globalization. Obviously, that smart and sustainable planning makes cities and regions more favorable for a living and more competitive. Each city that decides to implement smart approaches are implement them in different ways and the outcomes are different as well. At the same time, there are controversial opinions about "smartness" and the most common is that smart technologies are penetrates in city dwellers private life. Thus, debates on smart and sustainable cities and regional planning must, first of all, give the direction to those who are involved in city managing: academics, researchers, managers, public officers, city planners, politicians - to develop cities and make them more sustainable and comfortable by applying innovative technologies by excluding negative influences on people. |