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'LIVE BETTER’ : Smart City Expo as performative ideology formation

Baeten, Guy ; Listerborn, Carina ; Miranda, Pablo LU ; de Neergaard, Maja and Torisson, Fredrik LU (2025) In Digital Geography and Society 9(100144). p.1-4
Abstract
Based on ethnographic observations, this article seeks to empirically illustrate how one of the main functions of the Smart City Expo in Barcelona in 2024 is to perform smartcity-as-ideology and its technological-solutionist stance that considerably narrows our understanding of urban problems and the solutions for it. The article introduces the Expo and describes our arrival and visit to the Expo. It provides empirical detail of the performativity of technological solutionism and its optimism, including the role of alliances, based on ethnographic observations. The main features of the technological-solutionist ideology underpinning the smart city are summarised and we conclude how this performativity is in line with Althusser's... (More)
Based on ethnographic observations, this article seeks to empirically illustrate how one of the main functions of the Smart City Expo in Barcelona in 2024 is to perform smartcity-as-ideology and its technological-solutionist stance that considerably narrows our understanding of urban problems and the solutions for it. The article introduces the Expo and describes our arrival and visit to the Expo. It provides empirical detail of the performativity of technological solutionism and its optimism, including the role of alliances, based on ethnographic observations. The main features of the technological-solutionist ideology underpinning the smart city are summarised and we conclude how this performativity is in line with Althusser's understanding of ideology. (Less)
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author
; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Smart city expo, digitalisation, smart city
in
Digital Geography and Society
volume
9
issue
100144
pages
1 - 4
publisher
Elsevier
ISSN
2666-3783
DOI
10.1016/j.diggeo.2025.100144
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
19ece86b-ce6a-4026-9592-4abcf7cf473b
date added to LUP
2025-10-17 11:40:47
date last changed
2025-10-23 11:50:39
@misc{19ece86b-ce6a-4026-9592-4abcf7cf473b,
  abstract     = {{Based on ethnographic observations, this article seeks to empirically illustrate how one of the main functions of the Smart City Expo in Barcelona in 2024 is to perform smartcity-as-ideology and its technological-solutionist stance that considerably narrows our understanding of urban problems and the solutions for it. The article introduces the Expo and describes our arrival and visit to the Expo. It provides empirical detail of the performativity of technological solutionism and its optimism, including the role of alliances, based on ethnographic observations. The main features of the technological-solutionist ideology underpinning the smart city are summarised and we conclude how this performativity is in line with Althusser's understanding of ideology.}},
  author       = {{Baeten, Guy and Listerborn, Carina and Miranda, Pablo and de Neergaard, Maja and Torisson, Fredrik}},
  issn         = {{2666-3783}},
  keywords     = {{Smart city expo; digitalisation; smart city}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{10}},
  number       = {{100144}},
  pages        = {{1--4}},
  publisher    = {{Elsevier}},
  series       = {{Digital Geography and Society}},
  title        = {{'LIVE BETTER’ : Smart City Expo as performative ideology formation}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.diggeo.2025.100144}},
  doi          = {{10.1016/j.diggeo.2025.100144}},
  volume       = {{9}},
  year         = {{2025}},
}