Smart cities: technological innovation and sustainable urban development
Villes intelligentes. Innovation technologique et développement urbain durable
Published on Friday, November 28, 2025
Abstract
Le concept de ville intelligente s’impose progressivement comme un paradigme essentiel dans la réflexion et la planification urbaines contemporaines. Comment les concepts de ville intelligente peuvent-ils être adaptés aux réalités socio-économiques, culturelles et infrastructurelles des villes camerounaises et africaines, y compris les établissements informels et les économies mixtes formelles-informelles ? Quels sont les risques d'exclusion numérique et de renforcement des inégalités socio-spatiales ? Voilà les dimensions non exhaustives qui pourraient meubler les communications attendues dans le cadre de cette journée scientifique.
Announcement
Research Program 2025-27, Academic Year 2025-26
Organisation
Research Group: SMART CITIES
The RESILIENCE Laboratory of the Technical Support Office for Socio-environmental Resilience Group (BETA-RÉSILIENCE) is a private laboratory under Cameroonian law, dedicated to fundamental research and action research on resilience and the environment in general
Date and location
- Date: 20th December 2025
- Location: BETA-RÉSILIENCE Headquarters, Entrée Paloma area, Obobogo, Yaoundé
- Remote participation option: Teams link will be sent later
Purpose and Objectives of the RESILIENCE Laboratory (LR) Scientific Conferences
The aim is to bring together the growing community of researchers from various disciplinary fields working on topics related to resilience and the environment in Cameroon and elsewhere through scientific exchange sessions, followed by a convivial lunch.
The objective of the RESILIENCE Laboratory is to build a community of researchers who share resilience, the environment, and related research themes as objects of study, to identify, explore, analyze, and contextualize the materialities associated with these research fields in Cameroon and elsewhere on the planet.
These thematic conferences also aim to promote, from an interdisciplinary perspective, the research of established researchers, postdoctoral fellows, early-career PhDs, doctoral candidates, and master's students, particularly (but not exclusively) in the humanities and social sciences, geosciences, engineering sciences, and digital sciences.
By contributing to the renewal of analysis and scientific production on the environment and resilience, the RESILIENCE Laboratory scientific conferences are part of theoretical, reflexive and epistemological, methodological, and research dissemination perspectives. They provide a space for exchanges between established and early-career researchers regarding the challenges of research on the global environment.
Argument
The concept of the smart city is progressively establishing itself as an essential paradigm in contemporary urban thinking and planning (Angelidou, 2015), representing both a promise and a challenge for African and Global South urban territories at the intersection of digital technologies, urban governance, environmental sustainability, and social innovation (Luque-Ayala & Marvin, 2015). In a context of rapid urban growth, intensifying environmental and climate challenges, and accelerated digital transformation, African cities find themselves at a decisive crossroads where information and communication technologies (ICT), the Internet of Things (IoT), artificial intelligence, big data, and digital platforms are transforming how cities can manage resources, deliver services, and engage with citizens (Kitchin, 2014; Yigitcanlar et al., 2019). However, the transfer and appropriation of these technological models in African urban contexts raise numerous critical questions (Watson, 2014; Datta, 2015; Odendaal, 2016): How can smart city concepts be adapted to the socio-economic, cultural, and infrastructural realities of Cameroonian and African cities, including informal settlements and mixed formal-informal economies? What are the risks of digital exclusion and reinforcement of socio-spatial inequalities? How can data sovereignty, privacy protection, and citizen rights be guaranteed to prevent exploitation and ensure that smart city technologies serve public rather than purely commercial interests? What governance and citizen participation models can ensure truly inclusive smart cities that move beyond technocratic approaches to genuinely address social needs and promote equitable, sustainable development?
Thematic Areas
(non-exhaustive)
- Proposals may fall within the following areas, without being limited to them:
- Urban digital technologies and infrastructure
- Urban governance and citizen participation
- Urban mobility and intelligent transport
- Social inclusion and digital divide
- Urban digital economy
Requirements and deadlines
We are launching this call for proposals, with a deadline set for 10th December 2025, for the selection of a maximum of 10 communications external to the "DIGITAL URBANISM AND SMART CITIES" Research Group of the RESILIENCE Laboratory that resonate with one or more dimensions of the above theme: "Smart Cities: Technological Innovation and Sustainable Urban Development."
To ensure that proposals best contribute to the RESILIENCE Laboratory's objective of bringing together environmental researchers from various backgrounds, we would like these proposals to take into account (but not absolutely) the following criteria:
- Proposals must relate broadly to the chosen theme.
- Each proposal may include multiple authors.
- Special attention is given to interdisciplinarity. Authors are encouraged to collaborate with colleagues from other disciplines or research centers and to bring together diverse disciplinary perspectives.
- We also encourage proposals that include senior and junior colleagues as co-authors: doctoral students, postdoctoral fellows, professors—everyone is invited to present their work (including work in progress).
- We also welcome contributions from colleagues who do not necessarily consider themselves environmental or digital researchers but wish to present relevant work related to this theme.
Proposal formats
Proposals for presentations must include:
- A title
- An abstract (250 words maximum)
- Contact details of the author(s) (names, affiliations, email address)
- A short biography of the author(s): 50 words maximum
- The main author's most recent publication (optional)
A template for preparing a PowerPoint presentation not exceeding 15 slides will be sent to authors of selected communications before the scientific conference.
Proposals should be sent by email to: cornelius.wuchu@univ-yaounde1.cm and copy to beta.resilience@gmail.com
Email subject line: [Smart Cities Call] - Name of main author
Contact : (+237) 675 067126 or (+237) 695 33 41 36
Scientific Committee
- Pr Hénoch Blaise NGUENDO YONGSI Université de Yaoundé 2, Cameroun
- Pr Michel SIMEU KAMDEM École Normale Supérieure de l’Université de Yaoundé 1, Cameroun
- Dr Adrien DEUDJUI Institut Supérieur SIANTOU, Cameroun
- Dr Eric VOUNDI Université de Yaoundé 1, Cameroun
- Dr Cornelius WUCHU Université de Yaoundé 1, Cameroun
- Dr Patrick ESSIGUE Université de Yaounde1, Cameroun
- Dr Bertin MEDJO MEDJO Université d’Ebolawa, Cameroun
Subjects
- Geography (Main category)
- Society > Geography > Urban geography
- Mind and language > Epistemology and methodology > Mapping, imagery, GIS
- Society > History > Urban history
- Society > Sociology > Urban sociology
- Society > Geography > Geography: society and territory
- Society > Geography > Applied geography and planning
Places
- Lieudit, Entrée Paloma - Rue 8.502 Obobogo
Yaoundé, Cameroon (8085)
Event attendance modalities
Hybrid event (on site and online)
Date(s)
- Saturday, December 20, 2025
Attached files
Keywords
- villes, planification urbaine, innovation, technologie, gouvernance urbaine
Contact(s)
- Cornelius Wuchu
courriel : Cornelius [dot] wuchu [at] univ-yaounde1 [dot] cm
Information source
- Eric Voundi
courriel : labo [dot] resilience [at] gmail [dot] com
License
This announcement is licensed under the terms of Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal.
To cite this announcement
« Smart cities: technological innovation and sustainable urban development », Call for papers, Calenda, Published on Friday, November 28, 2025, https://doi.org/10.58079/158gh
