Abstract:

In a world dominated by the technological explosion of the last decades, the individual is the one that has to adapt and this adaptation may take unforeseen directions. Starting from the anthropocentric paradigm perceived as a specific perspective of profound ecology, we must note that most of the times human adaptation to changes in various spheres of existence may generate boomerang effects which turn against humanity. This already happened more than one time and will also happen related to the information and communication technology (ICT) and its adoption into the most profound and intimate aspects of existence. We are contemporary with a technological society where any real-world entity acquires a smart dimension. Thus, we can talk about smart education, smart transportation, smart energy, smart houses and buildings, smart government, smart health, smart cities or smart citizen. In other words, we live in a smart environment where everything is or can be smart. In this context we aim to analyze the concept and establish the characteristics of smart city or intelligent city and its role in the daily life. The term itself receives more and more popularity, but there are still unclear areas regarding the intelligent city. Thus, various values of urban intelligence are revised to show the need of a common definition of what is an intelligent city, its characteristics and performances compared to traditional cities.