Hannah Kaner, smart cities strategist at Orange Bus, argues in Information Age that when it comes to optimising citizen interaction with smart city development, we must target areas of the city where services are failing and address inclusivity.
With careful design and strategy now, we can create a future where the bar for reaching independence and self-sufficiency is lower, and inclusion in the city is a matter of course.
Inclusive ‘smart city’ development doesn’t necessarily mean we should ‘build for everyone’.
Many desire to design products and services ‘for everyone’ — the wider we cast our net, the more fish we’ll catch.
This is not necessarily true. It’s far too easy to make assumptions about how ‘everyone’ fits into our ideal ‘smart’ environment. It is easier still to assume that the people we are designing for are able-bodied, digitally literate, and financially stable.
Read the full story here.
