A Smart City Government Has A Rather Bigger Role To Play

History proves that cities have always been the centre of civilization. Be it social or economic, the innovation and the developments taking place in cities have always found its reverberations reaching other parts of the globe. Today, urbanisation is spreading around the world at a tremendous rate. More than half of the global population lives in cities and the number is still counting. A developed city like London has seen a population rise from 1 to 8.5 million in 140 years while even developing cities like Mumbai, Lagos, Sao Paulo, and Istanbul have seen a minimum 200,000 people flowing in each year in the recent decades. Lagos has witnessed a staggering 600,000 people moving in per year with a rate of 70 people per hour.

https://www.smartcity.press/smart-city-government/

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Jorgen Karskens, Project manager Civic Interaction Design at Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences, posted Jan 7th

Join us for the workshop: Civic Sousveillance & Democratic Oversight of Sensor Technology.

In this interactive workshop, we explore democratic oversight of camera detection and other urban sensors: from citizen initiatives such as the On Camera pocket guide and smart city camera-spotting tours to current policies on data collection in public space.

With contributions by Tom van Arman & Mike de Kreek from the Human Values for Smarter Cities research project, Inge Janse & Arthur De Jaeger from Centre for BOLD Cities, and council member Elisabeth IJmker from GroenLinks-PvdA. Next to talks we will also go outside for a joint camera-spotting tour around Arcam.

Date: Thursday, January 29, 2026
Time: 4:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.
Location: Arcam
Address: Prins Hendrikkade 600
Language: Dutch
Registration: free, but mandatory via the registration form which is here

More info on the Human Values for Smarter Cities research project is here

Anoop Kumar Jha, Architect Planner, MSc. (Infrastructure & Smart Cities) , posted August 26th 2025

Everything Urban 001 (LinkedIn Event) is the first in the Interactive Talk series for students and young professionals interested in Urban Affairs i.e. urban planning, urban management, architecture, sustainability, smart cities, to name some. Feel Free to attend it on September 4, 2025. More details in the link.

Jorgen Karskens, Project manager Civic Interaction Design at Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences, posted August 26th 2025

During this ThingsCon Salon, we explore how to give good intentions a lasting place in smart city projects. Join us!

On October 29th from 16:00-19:00 we will be at the stunning Scheveningen Pier for a workshop and talks on how to give good intentions a lasting place in government digital projects. Sign up here!

What is the Thingscon Salon about?
When you interact with the municipality, you often first encounter a digital tool: a website, a menu system, an algorithm, or a parking scan car. There are important reasons behind such digital systems: they're convenient and often efficient.

But if things go wrong, citizens shouldn't get lost in the digital reality. That's why the municipality promises its residents, for example in a coalition agreement, the human dimension in the digital city. And according to project plans, a digital tool should be fair, accessible, transparent, and just.

These kinds of good intentions are formulated before or at the beginning of development processes, but can sometimes slip out of view along the way. During procurement, development and implementation, choices are made that later seem to clash with the original intentions.

How do we design so that good intentions remain leading not just at the beginning, but also during execution?

During this ThingsCon Salon, we explore how to give good intentions a lasting place in government digital projects. Using one or two case studies, we'll develop concrete methods in a workshop to make intentions tangible and maintain them throughout the entire process – from administrative agenda to technical implementation and practical, daily use.

This Salon is co-organized by the 'Human Values for Smarter Cities' project from the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences and Smart City The Hague. The program consists of a workshop and several speakers.

Tessa Steenkamp and Mike de Kreek will host the workshop.

Date: Wednesday October 29th
Time: 16:00-19:00
Location: Infopunt Scheveningen

Signup here