1.1 Engaging citizens

Increasingly there is a shift in thinking towards the central role of citizens in smart cities. But how are people being engaged in smart city design and creation? Looking at cities around the world we see a number of different roles. Traditionally citizens have been viewed as consumers or users of smart city products and services. For example a citizen using an app designed by an energy supplier for a household to see which appliances are using lots of energy. However a citizen can also be a producer. This means a citizen produces data that is used by organisations to develop smart city services.

For example data about your use of an electric vehicle could be used by the city government to plan where to put vehicle charging points. A citizen who is both a consumer and producer is called a prosumer. For example if an app produced by city government provides real time travel information a citizen might use that service but also share their own travel data to improve the app. Increasingly cities are talking about citizens as co-creators of smart cities. This is when citizens work together with professionals to co-create smart city products or services. For example citizens working with professionals to re-design how telecare services are delivered in their community.