Matylda Wdowiarz-Bilska

Contemporary economic growth is related to the emergence of innovative branches and sectors of industry as well as to their accompanying spatial forms and new concepts of the city. One of the characteristic features of modern cities is the multitude of network-type relations resulting from the nature of the information-based economy. Contemporary ideas about the city focus among others on the problems of sustainable development, ubiquity of information and communication technologies (ICT) and concentration of the creative class in innovative centres of services and industry. The article presents a number of practical implementations of the contemporary concepts of city development.

Pojęcie smart city jest obecnie jednym z bardziej popularnych i chwytliwych haseł związanych z procesem rozwoju tkanki miejskiej. Zjawisko to, pomimo iż dotyczy procesów będących przedmiotem zainteresowań architekta/ urbanisty, wykracza poza obszar jego kompetencji. Jest ono przejawem inteligentnej rzeczywistości opartej na cyfrowych sieciach i zachodzących w nich interakcjach. Jej pojawienie się zostało przewidziane pod koniec lat 80. przez dwie koncepcje: wszechobecnego przetwarzania danych i Internetu Rzeczy/Internetu Wszechrzeczy. Infrastruktura inteligentnego miasta czy budynku nie jest kolejną „branżą” uczestniczącą w procesie projektowym. To szerokie innowacyjne spojrzenie, narzędzie, które oddziałuje wszechstronnie na różne aspekty struktury miasta, także społeczne. Cyfrowa rzeczywistość w postaci sieci urządzeń, czujników i aplikacji powiązanych z Internetem stanowi inteligentną przestrzeń, które wpływa na nasze życie i równocześnie umożliwia wpływ na kształtowanie zmian w realnym świecie.

Smart space – between a smart building and a smart city

Abstract

Nowadays, the term ‘smart city’ is one of the most popular and catchy phrases concerning the process of development of the urban tissue. Despite the fact that this phenomenon refers to processes which fall into the scope of interests of an architect / an urban planner, it goes beyond the competence of these professions. It is a manifest of smart reality based on digital networks and interactions that happen within them. Its occurrence was predicted in late 1980s by two concepts: the concept of ubiquitous computing, and the concept of the Internet of Things / Internet of Everything. Infrastructure of an intelligent city or building is not yet another ‘specialty’ taken into account in the course of designing. It is a broad, innovative approach, a tool which exerts a comprehensive influence on different aspects of the urban structure, including the social ones. Digital reality, manifested in networks of devices, sensors, and applications connected to the Internet, constitutes a smart space, which influences our lives, and simultaneously enables us to influence changes in the real world.

Spa resorts with a high quality environment, both in the natural and cultural sense, are attractive places for locating knowledge-based economy infrastructure. The article discusses several examples of technology parks and centres located within spa towns and presents the strategies which spa resorts may apply to boost their competitiveness and diversify the services they offer. Building partnerships and networks between research units, linking businesses and administration, developing services and technologies connected with balneology treatments and tourism as well as implementing green technologies open up new opportunities of growth for spa resorts.

The development of knowledge-based economy and the industrial transformation of the information era are related to significant alterations in the structure of cities and regions. This article describes changes in the region of Mecklenburg-Pomerania related to its authorities’ policy which aims at developing the industry of advanced technologies. Activities in the regional scale are continued in the local scale. Changes in the functional and spatial structure of the city of Greifswald, resulting from economic transformation, are presented in detail.