The state and prospects of digitalization of the urban environment and urban economy

The relevance of this article is determined by the need to reconcile the conceptual understanding of the smart city phenomenon with its interpretation in management and educational practices. Until recently, there was a departmental project of the Ministry of Construction of Russia “Smart City”, within which a portal of the same name was created. The subject of the research is the development of the smart city paradigm in the context of a comprehensive and irreversible process of digitalization that has covered all spheres of society. The purpose of the work is to clarify the conceptual framework and semantic field of the concepts “smart city” and “smart territory” in the context of digitalization of urban economy, taking into account the dualism of socio–economic and spatial development of regions and municipalities. An appeal to the etymology of the word smart made it possible to clarify the semantic field of a smart city — a city in which the use of high technologies is primarily focused on the external effect. It is argued that the concept of a smart city should be used in a narrow sense, including only Internet of Things objects and systems related to the urban environment and urban economy. Broad interpretations of the concept of “smart city” do not correspond to the current situations of meeting the needs of society, in which, thanks to digital platforms, the principle of extraterritoriality is implemented. In this case, the concept of “smart territories” is more appropriate, but it also loses any special meaning if the realities are interpreted through the prism of the concept of digitalization. The conclusion is made about the need to shift the focus of attention from the formal characteristics of a smart city, i. e. external attractiveness, to its substantive side.

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