All over the world, universities and independent institutions organize smart city congresses, symposiums and fairs, which encourage cities to get their smart city indicators to higher levels. In order to make their cities “smart”, local governments are interested in these organizations. In this regard, Istanbul has a special place being one of the most favored cities in the world to host such events. Currently, between 1 and 3 June 2016, Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality is hosting the Smart City World Congress. Kultur Inc. has organized the “Congress and Exhibition” with an experienced partner, Fira Barcelona.
WHAT DOES SMART CITY MEAN?
Towards the end of the twentieth century, as the use of technology was increased in cities, local authorities perceived “the information society” as an opportunity for development and welfare. The cities with technological infrastructure including various sorts of electronic and digital applications were initially called “virtual cities”. Later on, this definition evolved to the use of a variety of identifications such as “digital city”, “knowledge city”, “electronic communities”, “electronic community areas” and finally “cyber areas”.
[Politics Today, June 01, 2016]
