As Smart Worlds Collide: Citizen Agency and Human Rights in the Smart City

Abstract

This chapter examines a critical challenge facing societies today: the management and sustainability of urban areas, in a world where most people live in urban areas. It looks at the massive implementation of networked sensors and Internet of Things (IoT) infrastructure in hyper-connected urban environments, pave the way to ‘smarter cities’. States promise better living standards, optimizing efficiency, sustainable development, Eco-friendliness and personal security in a 4th generation of smart cities, where “Imagination Becomes Reality”. However, there is the possibility for the development of digital-feudalism, where technocratic city development, corporatization of governance, and hackable, pan-optic cities become the norm and citizens are treated as woolly livestock of the new feudal demesne. Indeed, ‘smart’ living will test the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights as never before, as the business and the state collide with the citizen in the new electronic polis, sometimes in collusion, but all too often in a mutually agreed hand-off of governance and responsibilities. Decoding the visions of ongoing smart city initiatives in East Asia shows what concerns and consequences the citizens may face in the near future, the importance of informal socio-economic activities, citizen agency and the emerging inadequacy of the principles of human rights. This comparative study examines the emergence of this new arena of conflict and confusion and the solutions proposed by governments and corporations by looking at smart city projects in Korea.