Subverting the logics of smartness in Singapore: Smart eldercare and parallel regimes of sustainability

This paper argues that the divergent logics of smartness and sustainability can lead to parallel regimes of sustainability. Whilst sustainability is often used to justify the need for smart cities, smart cities are often undermined by the neoliberal logics of digital governance. Moreover, because the intersection of digital technologies and society is a negotiated one, smart solutions often fail to provide adequate solutions to social problems. This is especially true when smart solutions are used to augment or replace hitherto human-centred processes, like caregiving. Parallel regimes of sustainability are an outcome of these failures. Drawing on an analysis of a trial of in-home smart eldercare technologies in Singapore, four binary pairings - public-private, individual-community, remote-proximate and passive-active - are used to define the parallel regimes of sustainable eldercare that emerged in response to smart technologies. To conclude, the need for urban paradigms to evolve in conversation with society is emphasised.