This theoretical piece dissects how the Smart City is not merely an urban policy model but a discursive construction, shaped by institutional ambitions, technological promises, and ideological investments. Medina and Sánchez examine how urban governance in Spain has embraced smartness as a catch-all solution for economic growth, modernization, and environmental stewardship—yet without critically interrogating the origins, beneficiaries, or contradictions of this narrative. The Smart City discourse mobilizes seductive images of efficiency, sustainability, and innovation, but often bypasses the messy realities of urban inequality, surveillance, and gentrification. Through discourse analysis, the authors show how key actors—municipal governments, tech companies, and planning agencies—co-produce a hegemonic story that aligns with neoliberal rationalities, favoring private-public partnerships and data-driven management. This story is not neutral: it defines what counts as progress, who is heard in urban planning, and how urban futures are imagined. By unpacking the symbolic power of this language, the article calls for critical urban pedagogy, capable of exposing the exclusions embedded in “smartness” and opening space for alternative imaginaries of justice, collectivity, and urban agency.
Medina, R. and Sánchez, M. (2016) ‘La construcción del discurso de la Smart City’, URBS. Revista de Estudios Urbanos y Ciencias Sociales, 6(2), pp. 7–24.
