Designing technology for smart and sustainable cities of tomorrow – What can we learn from IPCC’s sixth assessment report?

Abstract

Since their emergence, technologies have been applied to sustainable development in urban contexts. However, as the pace of climate change is still rapidly increasing, the question remains: what are the most urgent actions that designers of urban technology should focus on during the next ten years? In the HCI community, we need to consider the arguments of climate change experts more extensively. This paper reviews the latest recommendations by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change related to technology development in an urban context, aiming to respond to these sustainable urban technology design requests. Based on the principles of social sustainability and mixed methods approach and analysis of the IPCC's sixth assessment report, this review offers insights into the most urgent challenges that technology design should focus on. The findings suggest priorities and directions for future work when the aim is to halve greenhouse gas emissions by 2030.