SMART SOLUTIONS TO ENVIRONMENTAL CHALLENGES? INFRASTRUCTURAL TRANSITIONS AND HEALTH IN THE GLOBAL SOUTH

Abstract

Background: Smart city approaches hold the promise of technology-based opportunities to build sustainable - and therefore healthy - urban futures. However, current market-led approaches are not designed with sustainable development in mind. They can have damaging impact on society and the environment.

Aim: To show that the advantages offered by smart technology can and should be used in development, but that this should build on an advanced understanding of interlinked socio-eco-technical systems and the transdisciplinary collaboration of actors across domains and borders.

Methods:  Case studies of infrastructural transitions and their health and sustainability outcomes in China, India and Brazil (see www.susinfra.com).

Results: Complexity science can support development of innovative theoretical, methodological and applied approaches.

Conclusion(s): Smart city approaches may lead to better socio-eco-technical outcomes, particularly in times of global environmental crisis.

Presenter e-mail: deljana.iossifova@manchester.ac.uk