Introduction -- Technology Talks: The Evolution and Rhetoric of Smartcities -- Projects for Smart Cities: Ecosystems, Connected Intelligence and Innovation Driving the Radical Transformation of Cities -- The Histories of New (Geo)politics of Smart Villages Communities in a Global World: A Contribution to Geographical Debate -- Identifying, Mapping and Measuring Europe's Smart Cities and Digital Divides: Hyperlink Variations in Primary, Secondary and Tertiary Cities -- Role of Smart Dustbin in Creating a Smart Environment -- Smart Technologies and Aging Society -- Conceptual Model of Mixed-methods Civic Engagement Infrastructure Using Cloud-based Computing Combined with On-site Engagement and Action Projects -- Digital Placemaking: An Analysis of Citizen Participation in Smart Cities -- Historian for a Day: A Use Case of Augmented Reality in Civic Engagement.

"Smart City" programs and strategies have become one of the most dominant urban agendas for local governments worldwide in the past two decades. The rapid urbanization rate and unprecedented growth of megacities in the 21st century triggered drastic changes in traditional ways of urban policy and planning, leading to an influx of digital technology applications for fast and efficient urban management. With the rising popularity in making our cities "smart", several domains of urban management, urban infrastructure, and urban quality-of-life have seen increasing dependence on advanced information and communication technologies (ICTs) that optimize and control the day-to-day functioning of urban systems. Smart Cities, essentially, act as digital networks that obtain large-scale real-time data on urban systems, process them, and make decisions on how to manage them efficiently. The book presents 26 chapters, which are organized around five topics: (1) Conceptual framework for smart cities and communities; (2) Technical concepts and models for smart city and communities; (3) Civic engagement and citizen participation; (4) Case studies from the Global North; and (5) Case studies from the Global South.