Human development orientation in public policies of smart cities: The Mexico City Case

Abstract

Uncontrolled population growth, migration from rural to urban areas, and the obsolescence of government information systems are phenomena that manifest themselves in cities, causing deficiencies in urban services, citizen dissatisfaction, segregation, inequality, precariousness, insecurity, marginalization and discrimination, along with environmental pollution. Given this problem that Mexico City faces, it is necessary to innovate efficient and effective public management mechanisms with the incorporation of information and communication technologies. The article seeks to answer the question: Are there any public policies related to intelligent cities in Mexico City, oriented to Human Development? The objective is to analyze the public policies on which intelligent cities are promoted and if they are oriented to human development or only to a techno-economic development. The article used a case study with a mixed approach, based on the analysis of documents and semi-structured interviews with key actors. It is found that public policies related to smart cities have a high relationship with human development, and the advances that exist are more related to a digital city.  It is concluded that there are advances in the legal framework and in the development of public policies that facilitate the incorporation of digital and intelligent technologies and that are oriented towards human development as social welfare, but there are no specific policies on intelligent cities.