Competitiveness, distinctiveness and singularity in urban design: A systematic review and framework for smart cities

What is it about?

Should smart city applications reconsider the principles of placemaking in confronting the resemblance of smart cities? This systematic review seeks to answer this question by offering a framework that elucidates the principles of placemaking in smart cities and the relationship between people and places. The results of reviewing the SciVal and SCImago databases yielded 13 journals related to ‘urban economy’—as a goal of smart cities—and ‘placemaking’—as a target of city singularity.

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Photo by Sean Foley on Unsplash

Photo by Sean Foley on Unsplash

Why is it important?

A random selection of 44 articles in these journals was conducted based on the presence of words in titles, abstracts and keywords between 2012 and 2020. Four terms were revealed, namely, competitiveness, distinctiveness, urban forms and everyday lifestyles. The findings compiled 22 principles for creating singularity among smart cities. The three-step framework for creating the singularity of smart cities provides insights into how urban actors and stakeholders in the Global South can change traditional smart cities by aggregating the principles of placemaking (i.e. urban forms and everyday lifestyles) with the principles of the urban economy through urban competitiveness and distinctiveness. The conclusions suggested revisiting factors of ranking smart cities by considering the principles of placemaking, which can enhance the singularity of smart cities.