Mexican town resists "smart city" development

In late 2017, the residents of the small town of Santa Maria Tonantzintla, about three-hours away from Mexico City, discovered their town was intended to become a pilot smart city in a collaboration between the state of Puebla and the organisation Alianza Smart Latam. The town's residents, who had already lost its distinctive cobblestones, the clock tower, and a stucco bridge as part of the early stages of the project, filed an injunction to halt the project, which had failed to obtain the necessary permits from the national Institute of Anthropology and History. The municipality blamed the protests on a failure of communication. Around the state, 15 more cities are intended to joint the one finished smart city project, Atlixco.

https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2018/oct/16/the-mexican-town-that-refused-to-become-a-smart-city

Writer: Madeleine Wattenbarger

Publication: Guardian

Publication date: 2018-10-16