A Holistic Vision of Smart Cities: An Opportunity for a Big Change

Abstract

The depletion of energy resources on the one hand, and the population growth on the other, forced the society at all levels (local, national and international) to turn its attention to the identification of new forms of protection of the environment and the waste reduction for a new eco-sustainable way of living. The process of massive urbanization already in place, exacerbated by the movement of large masses of people in search of a more human form of life, is putting severely under test the livability within our cities, bringing out the inefficiency of existing management and organization models. Daisaku Ikeda said: “Certainly, the density of urban populations means that problems are concentrated in one place, as is the ecological burden […]. Although the world’s cities only occupy two percent of the Earth’s land area, they account for 75 % of carbon emissions and more than 60 % of energy consumption. While this means that cities’ environmental footprint is disproportionately large, it also reflects the reality that if cities change, the world will change”. The emerging model of the Smart Cities and relevant technologies, however, pose big questions about its social and spiritual sustainability. The Eastern view of the world, however, provides a unifying perspective of science and religion by healing the rift that has emerged over time and that was reflected in many Western cultures and reverberated in many community development models.

Since 1983, on January 26th of each year—in commemoration of the day of the founding of the Soka Gakkai International of which is currently the President the Japanese Buddhist teacher Daisaku Ikeda, a “Proposal for Peace” is sent from the President to the United Nations and to most influencing people around the world. The writings shall look at all the problems that humanity is facing, and highlight—besides the possible solutions—also the philosophical basis that can support and promote a radical change. Much of the material in this chapter is taken from [1]