Art and the city

Abstract

Today, when we look at the planning of the cities, we observe that in general, most of them are trying to take quick steps to be "smart". "Smart city" has not yet reached a single definition in the literature. Smart cities, consisting of smart economy, smart living, smart environment, smart people, smart mobility and smart governance components, are of course technology-oriented. Technology is a tool, and therefore the expectation that technology will make a city livable on its own is unrealistic. Big data, the Internet of Things (loT), and information technologies play an important role in making municipal activities efficient, but their impact on livability is low. Although artificial intelligence has been developed, smart cities still need operators, engineers, architects and designers. Art should be the focus of city planning. Thus, the branding, livability and sustainability of a city becomes easier. But, the art institutions are ignored when designing smart cities. Public art is an issue that needs to be focused on at this point. Museums and public art are seen as community assets and makes cities livable. In this paper, the relationship between smart cities and public art will be examined based on "Art in Public Space" report prepared by Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts. Paris, London, Vienna and Amsterdam are compared with Istanbul. As a result, this study aimed to bring cultural policy proposals for Istanbul.