Human Rights and the Smart City

This paper examines how technological solutions, information and communication technologies (ICTs), and smart city initiatives can become avenues to produce urban spaces that reflect fundamental human rights values such as non-discrimination, equality, and access for all.Cities today are drivers of human rights activity and serve as hubs for technological advances, political and economic innovation, and social justice. Nevertheless, the inclusion of marginalized communities continues to be a challenge. ICTs and smart city initiatives are often cited to foster urban integration, to improve citizen participation in decision-making processes, and to enhancecommunity resilience. At the same time, using technologies can amplify social and economic polarization and leave those at the margins further behind. The challenge is to employ technological solutions in ways that promote human rights and empower marginalized groups. This paper establishes a theoretical framework that relates human rights to the city and defines the inclusive, human rights-focused smart city and presents empirical evidence of smart cities that have integrated inclusive technological approaches