The vision of the technology-powered metropolis of the future is being sold with images that bear little resemblance to the real world.
Suddenly, the world is awash in smart cities. Google is about to build one in Toronto. Hudson Yards in New York City is one, kind of. China and India have both declared national missions to construct or retrofit dozens of smart city projects all at once. And global tech giants and startups are racing to offer customers urban dashboards, “smart’’ systems, and new-age transit networks to make life happier and more efficient.