Information and Communications Technology in the Development of Territories Based on Designing “Smart Cities”

This paper analyzes the leading role of information and communications technology in developing territories based on the smart city concept. It is noted that the main significance of this concept is the ability to quickly process large amounts of information, to join together the interests of managers, businesses and the population, and to calculate the current and future demands of an area and its consumer groups within the selected positive growth scenario. An example of such solutions is the “living urban technology labs”, where the situation in a specific area is assessed using artificial intelligence and ICT development, and this assessment is then used to design urban landscapes with affordable housing, healthcare services, including telehealth, as well as traffic control and other sectors. Researching the role of information and communications technology in the development of a territory based on designing “smart cities” suggests a need to: 1) assess the role of the smart city concept in transforming territories based on adopting information and communications technology; 2) validate the possibilities of Russian regions where megapolises are the driving force in the positive transformation of the socio-economic system of a territory on a digital basis to provide an information and communications infrastructure. In Russia, the driving forces in the development of the smart city concept are modern large cities, in the majority of which initiatives on positively transforming the planning and management strategy for a smart urban environment are being carried out. With their developed ICT, they help generate the growth of their local region, contributing to its transformation into a smart territory. Foreign experience concerning both local examples of renovating industrial regions of urban areas as well as scaling the smart city concept within the framework of interregional projects similar to the experience of China can be demanded and tested in Russia, above all, in regions with the most developed ICT today.