IEEE Access Special Section Editorial: Social Computing Applications for Smart Cities

Computer and social sciences offer a wide range of tools to help face the world’s challenges arising in smart city scenarios and involving environment, energy, food, water, transportation, infrastructures, society, healthcare, education, governance, and economy. Indeed, purely technical solutions might be of little effect without proper consideration of the social dimension of the Smart City. A user’s behavior depends on a variety of social and individual motivations, which require addressing both the technical and social sides of the problem to promote active engagement of individuals in increasing the social good. More specifically, social computing tools can be targeted on a wide range of Smart Cities applications, including urban transport and fleet logistics management (possibly leveraging electric vehicles or other intelligent transportation systems), traffic, public safety and air pollution monitoring via smart traffic lights, smart signals and lamp posts, automation of smart buildings and homes with the aim of improving energy efficiency, livability and age-friendliness, smart health, smart industries, electricity grids, water systems and solid waste management, and frameworks for educational, cultural, and entertainment initiatives.