Thank you, but I'd rather be dumb

When I hear the word "smart" anymore, it isn't as funny as it used to be.  This is getting serious.

Haven't heard of Smart Cities?  Neither had I, although it is the obvious next step for the
Smart movement to take. A U topian smart city means mining our personal data for the efficiency of the city and the good of all.  It makes me wish we all had the old black, dial desk phone technology.  Unless one had a party line, or a sibling listening in on an extention, privacy was assured, and no one could hack your non-digital tele-communications.

Smart Cities Council  
smartcitiescouncil.com

Take a moment to read what this organization is all about, and see who the partners and advisors are.  Do you recognize any local entities?

Get a feel of where these giant, national and global corporations and organizations want to take us: read the articles below.  Smart Cities are not warm and fuzzy.  The scary thing is that Central Planners eat this stuff up.  And they are in control of us for the foreseeable future.  The monied interests and the CPs are lining up, ready to pick our pockets and invade our lives.  Enjoy!


Wall Street Journal July 12, 2015  Commentary by Mike Weston
'Smart' Cities Will Know Everything 
About You 
How can marketers cash in without

becoming enemies of the people?

From Boston to Beijing, municipalities and governments across the world are pledging billions to create "smart cities" - urban areas covered with Internet-connected devices that control citywide systems, such as transit, and collect data.  Although the details can vary, the basic goal is to create super-efficient infrastructure, and urban planning and I prove the well-being of the populace.

A byproduct of a tech utopia will be a prodigious amount of data collected on the inhabitants.

In a fully 'smart' city, every movement an individual makes can be tracked.  The data will reveal where she works, how she commutes, her shopping habits, places she visits, and her proximity to other people.  You could argue that this sort of tracking already exists via various apps and on social-media platforms, or is held by public-transport companies and e-commerce sites.  The difference is that with a smart city, this data will be centralized and easy to access.  Given the value of this data, it's conceivable that municipalities or private businesses that pay to create a smart city will seek to recoup their expenses by selling it.

The Guardian December 17, 2014. By Steven Poole  This is a must read on the subject.
The truth about Smart Cities: "In the end, they will destroy democracy."

"Why do smart cities offer only improvement?" asks the architect, Rem Koolhaas.  "Where is the possibility of transgression?"

See also:

District of Future districtoffuture.eu.  (European Union projects)

Information Applied to Better Efficiency in Smart Cities