Abstract
Smart, Blue, and Green imaginaries (SBGIs) shape and are shaped by socioepistemic dynamics of urban transformation. How SBGIs are assembled, contested, and legitimized through the intertwined processes of urban transformation, technology, and governance within specific urban-ecological contexts is our focus. Via ‘imaginaries’ and ‘assemblage urbanism’, we examine planning visions and policy discourses in Busan and Marseille. We trace SBGIs’ material and discursive entanglement over time, influencing trajectories of urban transformation, and reveal power mechanisms of inclusion, exclusion, translation, and negotiation. While ontological approaches to SBG infrastructure have been extensively explored, there is a notable absence of context-sensitive socio-epistemological approaches to SBGIs and of comparative, holistic frameworks. Therefore, we propose an integrated framework for empirically grounded, context-sensitive comparative analysis. In Busan, for example, national smart city imaginaries dominate, driving greenfield development, where smart imaginaries are strategically merged with blue-green narratives to legitimize large-scale transformation. In Marseille, port and municipal authorities leverage blue-green imaginaries to underpin urban waterfront regeneration and climate adaptation. Smart technologies are strategically integrated, reinforcing the narrative of “a green port for a blue economy” (MarseilleFos, 2020). In both cases, SBGIs reflect distinct social structures, political and environmental priorities, and planning cultures, while reconfiguring the institutional and spatial dimensions of urban transformation. This framework offers a socio-epistemic lens for a more critical and processual exploration of space, technology, and governance interaction. It provides conceptual ground for questioning the present and cultivating alternative imaginaries that challenge dominant smart urbanism, opening possibilities for more inclusive and sustainable urban futures.
Presenters
Eliane SchmidDoctoral Reseracher, Luxembourg Centre for Contemporary and Digital History (C²DH), Université du Luxembourg, Luxembourg SaeBom Song
Student, PhD candidate, Institute for Technology Assessment and Systems Analysis (ITAS)/ Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Germany
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
KEYWORDS
Assemblage Urbanism, Port Cities, Smart-Blue-Green Imaginaries, Inclusive Planning, Power Structures
