The Decolonisation of the Smart City through Degrowth and Serendipity

Abstract

In this article we posit that serendipity might be a facilitating factor of urban transitions. We start from the idea that the Smart City has been colonised by the narrative of growth. Its current focus on economic growth, eco-modernism and techno-determinism is not only leading to environmental and social challenges at the urban level, it is also representing a threat to the success of transition processes. We propose to look at this issue from a degrowth perspective where serendipity would be a facilitating condition of the decolonisation of the Smart City.