Smart Cities, Playable Cities, and Cybersecurity: A Systematic Review

ABSTRACT

Smart cities connect humans to networks of information to create urban operating systems that optimize traffic management, sustainable energy use, and enact smart governance. The concept of playable cities has been advanced to create smart cities that are more human-centered. As smart cities are socio-technical structures involving technologies, people, and policies that each impact privacy and security, such an approach also has potential to develop stronger cybersecurity protocols for smart cities going beyond technological approaches. In this article, we conduct a systematic literature review of articles from 2015 to 2020 that discuss smart/playable cities and data gathering in relation to privacy and security. Based on this systematic review, we found a disconnect exists between smart and playable cities literature in terms of exclusive focus on technological solutions for security and little focus on people and policies as part of cybersecurity in the literature analyzed. Seeing as playable cities embrace user-generated co-creation, we argue that this personal side is important to get people to participate meaningfully in smart cities that lets them embrace cybersecurity policies as part of personal behavior. For this purpose, we propose utilizing a cybersecurity lens (e.g., McCumber cube model) so that smart city designers can more fully develop and consider cybersecurity that includes both personal privacy and playable approaches.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Gustav Verhulsdonck

Gustav Verhulsdonck is an assistant professor in the Business Information Systems department at Central Michigan University. Prior, he worked at IBM as a technical writer. He also consulted for clients such as NASA and the US Army. His research interests are user experience design, data analytics, and how technologies impact communication practices.

Jennifer L. Weible

Jennifer L. Weible, associate professor and director of the Doctor of Educational Technology program at Central Michigan University, previously worked in K-12 education as a chemistry/physics teacher and technology integrator. Jennifer is a learning scientist who explores science curiosity, STEM/STEAM informal learning, creativity, science practices, and technology-supported learning environments.

Susan Helser

Susan Helser is the Central Michigan University Program Director for Cybersecurity, Cybersecurity Club Faculty Mentor, and Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense Point of Contact. Prior to working in education, she enjoyed a successful IS/IT career. Her research interests include cryptology, identity-theft, IoT, cyber-bullying, gamification, and cross-disciplinary education.

Nancy Hajduk

Nancy Hajduk is an adjunct mathematics instructor for La Roche University and University of Arizona Global Campus. She is an adjunct education instructor for Central Michigan University where she recently completed her Doctorate in Educational Technology. Her research interests include mobile technology use and student creativity in education.