This book addresses the issue of smart and sustainable development in the Mediterranean (MED) region, a distinct part of the world, full of challenges and risks but also opportunities. Above all, the book focuses on smartening up small and medium-sized cities and insular communities, taking into account their geographical peculiarities, the pattern of MED urban settlements and the abundance of island complexes in the MED Basin. Taking for granted that sustainability in the MED is the overarching policy goal that needs to be served, the book explores different aspects of smartness in support of this goal's achievement. In this respect, evidence from concrete smart developments adopted by forerunners in the MED region is collected and analyzed; coupled with experiences gathered from successful, non-MED, examples of smart efforts in European countries. More specifically, current research and empirical results from MED urban environments are discussed, as well as findings from or concerning other parts of the world, which are of relevance to the MED region. The book's primary goal is to enable policymakers, planners and decision-making bodies to recognize the challenges and options available; and make to more informed policy decisions towards smart, sustainable, inclusive and resilient urban and regional futures in the MED.

Autorentext
Anastasia Stratigea is Professor of Spatial Planning and Policy at the National Technical University of Athens, School of Rural and Surveying Engineering, Greece. She is a member of international networks (NECTAR, COST A22, EFONET, etc.), Co-founder of Smart Cities and Communities Mediterranean Cluster, Member of Smart Grid Smart Cities / German Academy for Spatial Research and Planning - ARL, Coordinator of Gr-RAC - IYGU / IGU Initiative. She is author, co-editor, and co-author of 6 books, while she has published 20 book chapters and over 90 refereed journal and international conference publications. She is reviewer of a number of international journals and has participated in EU and national projects both as member of a research team and a coordinator. Her research interests focus on Sustainable Development, Urban and Regional Planning and Policy, Spatial Planning, Participatory Planning, Smart Cities and Communities, ICTs and Urban / Regional Development, ICTs and Rural Development, Culture/Tourism and Urban/Regional Development, Foresight Methodologies, etc.
Dimitris Kavroudakis is an Assistant Professor of Geographical Analysis in the Department of Geography, University of the Aegean, Greece. He has studied Computer Info Systems in the American College of Greece (DEERE); and Geography in the University of the Aegean. He has an MSc in GIS, University of Leeds, UK; and a PhD in Geography, University of Sheffield, UK. He has worked as post-doc researcher in the UCL (CASA), University of Sheffield; and the University of the Aegean. He has been involved in high quality geographical research and scientific publications. His research interests include location analysis, spatial analysis and statistics, spatial economics, network analysis, GIS, open source and economic geography, Web-GIS, visualization, EU population inequalities and open source GIS development. He adopts new approaches in geographical analysis, such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Agent-Based Modelling; and supports new computational paths, such as Grid Computing and large scale distributed modelling.

Inhalt
Virtual Reality for Smart City Visualization and Monitoring.- Building a Smart City Ecosystem for Third Party Innovation in the City of Heraklion.- Smart Cities on the Cloud.- Tracking Paths to Smart Governance: The Case of Korydallos Municipality - Greece.- The Urban Walk Architecture Talk - Bridging Socially Engaged Art, Urban Processes and Cultural Development.- Wanderlost - A Participatory Art and Design Endeavor.- Investigating Territorial Specialization in Tourism Sector by Ecosystem Services Approach.- Participatory Planning in Support of Resilient Natural / Cultural Resource Management.- A Method for Developing a Game-enhanced Tool Targeting Consumer Engagement in Demand Response Mechanisms.- Tools and Technologies for Enhancing Public Engagement in Sustainable Urban Mobility Planning - The Case of Rethymno, Crete.- Location - Allocation Modeling for Emergency Evacuations in the Aegean Sea.- Sharing Economy Perspectives in the Tourism Accommodation Sector.