Smart Cities between Ethics and Aesthetics

Smart cities are systems of knowledge. If on the one hand they maintain an identity that prevents repetition - given the uniqueness of their historical-evolutionary path – on the other hand they can be classified according to the criteria of representation adopted for interaction with the urban reality. However, rather than adhering to a single paradigm (modernity, postmodernism or complexity), it may be useful to develop an “eclectic” perspective, in order to identify the conceptual intersections that show the existence of areas in which it is important to intervene, regardless of the diversity of paradigms. In this context, researchers and practitioners can help in establishing a link between the development of collective identities and activities of public institutions interested in activating participatory decision-making processes. Thus, it is possible to appreciate geographical scales and elements of scarce interest at an institutional level, which, however, may prove to be of great value in citizens’ individual background. Citizens become “daily life explorers” who can communicate with the institutions or share contents with them on the web. Instead, geographers and institutions have the task of integrating the individual opinions in order to produce “ethical frameworks” which are responsive to the living experience of people that animate everyday life. On the basis of these premises, the aim of this work is to research an equitable and sustainable pattern of development, in the ambivalent tension between ethics and aesthetics of the urban contexts, “mediated” by the system of knowledge that characterizes the smart cities.