The spatial development of peripheralisation: The case of smart city projects in Romania

This article addresses the uneven territorial growth of the smart city phenomenon and how the national and local spatial politics of urban smart projects work out in practice. While in previous decades the concept of smart city referred mainly to the digital and technological realm as an indicator of the performance of cities, today it is taking on a broader range of meanings, so as to also cover such areas as governance, environment, housing and people. However, the critical literature on smart cities highlights two potential disadvantages: firstly, that urban planners who decide to pursue a smart city vision run the risk of creating a kind of power and control over residents; and secondly that there appears to be an incompatibility between smart cities and the informal. Moreover, the spatial and the critical dimensions of the governance of urban smart projects are still insufficiently researched. By using a comparative and developmental quantitative methodology for the urban smart projects of Romania and taking the city of Timisoara as a case study, this study highlights the fact that large cities are not always the best represented; our findings show that peripheral small cities and towns may enjoy a more balanced distribution of smart projects. Furthermore, our evaluation of the spatial distribution (centre–periphery) of smart city projects in Timişoara—a European Capital of Culture in 2023—reveals a higher level of investment in smart projects in its urban periphery. By presenting new critical understandings of the spatial interrelationships of smart city development, the study contributes to the geography of smart cities.