Study On Several Architectural Issues Related To Western Smart City Theories

Smart cities, Smart spaces, Smart world–the concept of Smart has become one ofthe essential issues of future urban development. For the word Smart City which hasbeen discussed about so frequently, however, questions have been cast by scientists,critics and governors: what exactly does Smart City means? Is it a marketing label? Anacademic concept? A utopian dream? Is the so called Smart City truly capable ofsolving those problems and challenges our cities are facing and will face?According to western Smart City theories, modern cities have encounteredextremely severe situations such as increasing population, deteriorated climate, foodshortage, water contamination, energy crisis, environment damage, traffic jam,management inefficiency, etc., which have aroused comprehensive research oninformation and communication technology(ICT), public management, environmentalprotection, sustainable development, etc. Currently, both the theoretical research and thepractical application have become relatively mature, since several practical project havebeen put into use.Nevertheless, western Smart City theories primarily focus on ICT, publicmanagement, environmental protection, sustainable development, etc., whereas pay noparticular attention to urbanism or designing principles. This essay is based on the latestresearch results of western Smart City theories through extensive reading of relatedacademic materials and logical compiling of primary issues in discussion, and picksfour architectural issues for further study: The Relationship of Technology and Designin Smart Cities, The Smart City and the Ecological City, The Intelligent Buildings andthe Smart City, The Smart City and the Global Scale.Nowadays, academic research in China about Smart Cities is still focusing onmanagement and technology, and architectural issues are somehow dismissed. Thisessay aims to introduce the latest results of western research and interpret them with aperspective of architecture, which might contribute to a more comprehensiveunderstanding of Smart Cities and a more scientific instrument on practice.