Open AccessTowards ‘smart cities’ as ‘healthy cities’: health equity in a digital age
Author(s) -
Morgan Mouton,
Ariel Ducey,
John Green,
Lorian Hardcastle,
Steven J. Hoffman,
Myles Leslie,
Melanie Rock
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
canadian journal of public health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.64
H-Index - 72
eISSN - 1920-7476
pISSN - 0008-4263
DOI - 10.17269/s41997-019-00177-5
Subject(s) - conceptualization , equity (law) , mental health , smart city , health equity , health promotion , promotion (chess) , economic growth , political science , public relations , sociology , internet of things , psychology , internet privacy , economics , health care , computer science , politics , artificial intelligence , law , psychotherapist
The advent of 'smart' technologies has already transformed urban life, with important consequences for physical, mental, and social well-being. Population health and equity have, however, been conspicuously absent from much of the 'smart cities' research and policy agenda. With this in mind, we argue for a re-conceptualization of 'digital divides' in terms of socio-economic gradients at the individual level, and we draw attention to digitally mediated connections as crucial elements for health promotion at an institutional level and for remedying inequities. We do so in part by reporting on a recent symposium. Overall, we begin to integrate the 'healthy cities' tradition with the current interest in 'smart cities'.