International Journal of Urban Sciences

The fever surrounding the smart city narrative both in academia and policy circles appears to be ebbing. Despite these changes in discourse, however, the intensification of information and communication technology (ICT) infrastructure in urban space continues. Remote working continues after the pandemic subsided, autonomous vehicles are on the top of economic and policy agenda in many countries, services and commerce in urban spaces continue to migrate to cyberspace, national and local governments continue to increase digital means of civil participation, applications of ICT to reduce energy consumption in cities continue, just to list a few. As transportation technology did in the early 20^th century, ICT is certainly shaping today’s urban spaces. In fact, with the naïve excitement about smart city and uninformed fear subsiding, we finally have a calmer moment to reflect upon ICT's role in urban environments.

This special issue seeks a wide range of papers that push the boundaries of current literature and provide fresh insights into the dynamics of ICT integration in urban spaces. We welcome contributions addressing, but not limited to, the following areas:

• Critical reviews on smart city-related topics.
• Critical analysis of policy and media narratives on smart cities.
• Explorations into the governance challenges and frameworks for ICT infrastructure.
• Reflections on the outcomes of previously celebrated smart city initiatives.
• Discussions on potential risks linked to ICT infrastructure beyond familiar warnings against a surveillance society.
• Investigations into the current and potential uses of big data and/or artificial intelligence in urban planning and policymaking.
• Insights into the enhancement of industrial zones via smart technological innovations.

Potential contributors are welcome to contact guest editors ([email protected] and [email protected] ) with a provisional title and abstract.

Manuscripts should present original research that has not been published or under review elsewhere. All submissions will undergo a rigorous peer-review process to ensure the quality and relevance of accepted papers. Authors should follow the submission guidelines of IJUS for manuscript formatting and referencing. A typical manuscript will not exceed 7000 words, excluding tables, references, captions, footnotes and endnotes.

Please note that papers can be submitted at any time before the deadline. We expect a swift review of submitted papers and publication of the special issue in mid-2024.

* Please don't forget to select the special issue title "Re-Examining Digital Urban Infrastructure after the Smart City Hype" when submitting your paper to the submission system.

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