Smart cities and crisis management
Citation: Hassankhani M, Alidadi M, Sharifi A, et al. Smart city and crisis management: Lessons for the COVID-19 pandemic. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2021;18(15):7736.
Language: Abstract and full text available in EN.
Free to view: Yes.
Funding sources: Asia-Pacific Network for Global Change Research.
What is this? The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted day-to-day function in cities worldwide, emphasizing the important role of urban planning for response and recovery from disasters and other crises.
In this systematic review, the authors searched for studies of the role of technology or smart cities in responding to crises. They restricted their searches to articles published in English. They did not report when they did their searches but submitted their review for publication in May 2021. They included 64 studies.
What was found: The use of technology impacted various areas in the community and daily functioning: education and employment, community participation, government transparency, social interaction, and the physical and mental health of the public.
Analysing the well-being and urban functionality of cities during crises including the COVID-19 pandemic, identified key areas of focus: (1) use and effectiveness of smart city planning; (2) active participation, transparency and social connectedness; (3) consideration of physical and mental health of individuals; and (4) impact on education and employment.
Several concerns are associated with the use of technology in responding to crises, including issues of privacy, inclusivity barriers (e.g., due to age, culture, and language), technical issues due to technology literacy and challenges in remote working environments and education.
Use of social media can also be harmful when political bias is introduced or misinformation is disseminated, misleading the community and disrupting transparency between decision-makers and the public.
Implications: The authors of the review concluded that there were critical policy implications for urban planning through promoting democratic technology deployment, urging societal empowerment through non-technical technologies, emphasizing the sustainability of telemedicine, and advocating for collaborative and comprehensive digitization policies.
Other considerations: The authors of the review discussed their findings in the context of place of residence/geographical location, culture, language, occupation, education, and socioeconomic status.
This summary was prepared by Yasmeen Saeed, checked by Cristián Mansilla and Jawaria Karim, and finalized by Mike Clarke.