This paper discusses a major Smart Cities project, the output of which is an interactive digital platform which tests optimal public transport patronage and employment creation potential of various railway station development options.

Cities are complex systems and the ways in which we consider and conceive them requires disruption. This disruption is not technological, but methodological – providing new ways to understand and explore their structure, composition and potential.

Smart Cities is a planning movement that uses information technology to develop cities of ‘intelligent’ sense and response. This paper looks at two of the highest profile Smart City initiatives under this new model; explores the spatial strategies being employed, and explores possible futures for Australian application.

In this article, Dr Natalia Grincheva argues that the convergence of soft power and smart city ambitions and strategies is inevitable, and that museums play a key role as centres of soft power through their ability to attract visitors, elevate the global visibility of cities and shape urban identities.

The Code for Smart Communities was created to help guide urban development practices in Australia and New Zealand by embracing technology, data and intelligent design as a catalyst for positive change.