BRICS and Smart Cities: Lessons from China’s Model for the Global South

China hopes to roll out its smart city model to BRICS nations

Rhoda Wilson

 The article discusses China’s smart cities as being the model for the Global South to follow.

China’s approach differs from Western models.  “Unlike Western models that emphasise data privacy and public participation, China focuses on rapid, large-scale implementation,” BRICS Info said.

Before we get to the BRICS Info article, a reminder of what a smart city is.  As it is a dystopian concept we have raised in several articles, rather than reiterate what we have published before, we’ll use the example of a proposal that was made 14 years ago.

In 2010, the UK-based think-tank Forum for the Future proposed the concept of “Planned-opolis” as one of four scenarios for the future of cities in a report titled ‘Megacities on the Move’.   As reported by The City Fix at the time, the report was a collaboration between Vodafone, FIA Foundation for the Automobile and Society and EMBARQ, which is now is now part of WRI Ross Centre for Sustainable Cities.

The “Planned-opolis” scenario envisioned a highly controlled and regulated urban environment, where the government has planned and computerised citizens’ lives to ensure efficient use of resources and energy.  The key features include:

• Limited mobility where citizens are restricted in their travel due to high fuel prices, with a “calorie credit card” system rationing the amount of travel allowed.
• Centralised planning where the state has complete control over all aspects of city life, including transportation, energy and food production.
• The city is optimised for efficiency, with a focus on reducing waste and minimising carbon emissions.
• Citizens have limited choices and freedoms, with the state dictating many aspects of daily life.

In the video below, Dave Cullen discusses a concept video for “Planned-opolis” that was published by Forum of the Future in 2010.

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