What is the meaning of the word smart

Recent Examples on the Web

Travel better and smarter with this 3-piece hardside luggage set from Wrangler (yes, the jeans company).


—Katherine Alex Beaven, Travel + Leisure, 11 Apr. 2023




Check out our roundups of the smartest dog breeds, quiet dog breeds that barely bark, laziest dog breeds that are total couch potatoes, as well as the most popular dog breeds in the U.S.


—Alesandra Dubin, Good Housekeeping, 11 Apr. 2023




Luckily there are many smart storage solutions, organizational tools, tips and tricks available to help make that under-sink space more functional.


—Maryal Miller Carter, USA TODAY, 10 Apr. 2023




So some older smart displays should continue receiving software updates for now.


—Michael Kan, PCMAG, 10 Apr. 2023




This is our most eco-friendly picnic blanket so far and a gorgeous smart picnic accessory with beautiful British Heritage.


—townandcountrymag.com, 10 Apr. 2023




Employees are smart grownups who deserve to be treated as such.


—Amy Leschke-kahle, Fortune, 10 Apr. 2023




Gilday and others have said incorporating new technologies into the fleet can create a smaller but smarter presence by the Navy around the world.


—Peter Kasperowicz, Fox News, 10 Apr. 2023




For example, a smart city might consider this whole innovation puzzle in thinking about which nonstops should be added at their airport.


—Neil Senturia, San Diego Union-Tribune, 10 Apr. 2023

Pitchers tossed underhand and no one wore gloves yet, resulting in smarting pain in the hands of catchers and first basemen.


—Jeff Suess, The Enquirer, 29 Mar. 2023




The Fool responds: That must smart.


—Dallas News, 29 Jan. 2023




The service is available on any device that runs Apple’s TV app, from Apple’s Macs, iPads, and iPhones to smart TVs, streaming boxes, or other companies’ game consoles.


—Samuel Axon, Ars Technica, 1 Feb. 2023




From Apple’s AirTags to smart home equipment, keep your family and friends up to date with the latest and greatest.


—Madeline Fass, Vogue, 10 Dec. 2022




The highs here work because the MCU is a monument to smart casting; there’s warmth amid the chill.


—Christopher Borrelli, Chicago Tribune, 11 Nov. 2022




Google’s sustainability efforts span its offerings, ranging from machine learning to help cool its data centers to smart thermostats that conserve home energy.


—Matt Whittaker, Fortune, 12 Sep. 2022




And can smart regulation ensure companies are providing equal opportunities to all potential employees?


—Kristen Bellstrom, Fortune, 10 Nov. 2021




Why would smart people follow their leaders in unknown, possibly risky terrain, when even those leaders are unsure about the smartest way ahead?


—Jean-francois Cousin, Forbes, 29 Oct. 2021

The Patriots coach had heard many a college coach give him the standard spiel about how smart this prospect or that prospect was, so when Rutgers coach Greg Schiano gushed about Devin McCourty’s smarts, Belichick wanted to see for himself.


—Jim Mcbride, BostonGlobe.com, 21 Mar. 2023




Known for his smart (but cool) tailoring, Do introduced menswear into his assortment, and the pieces were entirely delicious.


—Vogue Runway, Vogue, 19 Dec. 2022




Humanity has never come up with a more perfect instrument than social media to separate the smart from the dense, the mature from the childish and the self-aware from the self-absorbed.


—Dan Wolken, USA TODAY, 12 Mar. 2022




New York smart tells us that this situation and moment are not about the facts.


—Julia Jacobo, ABC News, 10 Aug. 2021




Carl ended up teaching the smartest of the smart at the Naval Academy for the Trident Scholars, where his maxim formed a part of the curriculum.


—Ellevate, Forbes, 24 May 2021




Emsisoft analyst Brett Callow called AXA’s decision smart, noting that some organizations seem more inclined to pay ransom if the money isn’t coming from their own pockets.


—Frank Bajak, Star Tribune, 6 May 2021




Anthes is bullish on the possibilities of the smart.


—Max Holleran, The New Republic, 3 Dec. 2020




Apple might finally release AirTags, a coin-size smart-tracker that relies on Apple’s iCloud network to help users locate missing items.


—Irina Ivanova, CBS News, 13 Oct. 2020

That means smart-stacking plates that double as lids for bowls, bowls that nest into serving platters, and so on.


—Bon Appétit, 30 Nov. 2022




Here’s another smart-looking slipper that’s well-priced.


—Danny Perez, Popular Mechanics, 28 Oct. 2022




Monroe eschewed a typical gown in favor of a smart-looking brown suit with a fluffy white collar, while DiMaggio wore a simple suit.


—Paul Schrodt, Men’s Health, 10 Oct. 2022




Seats can be trimmed in a smart-looking gray wool blend, part of Volvo’s effort to eliminate leather use by 2030.


—cleveland, 24 Sep. 2022




The stand has a sleek design made from thin but sturdy fiberglass, pieced together in a smart-looking Z-shape.


—Thomas Hindle, The Hollywood Reporter, 6 Apr. 2022




The smart-looking bag is made from a two-tone high-tech fabric with a clean design.


—Adam Morganstern, Forbes, 9 Dec. 2021




The advent of 5G also boosted demand for more powerful server chips to handle cloud computing, artificial intelligence and smart-driving technologies.


—Takashi Mochizuki, Fortune, 16 Sep. 2021




Last year Honda launched its first-ever EV, the tiny, quirky yet aptly named ‘Honda e,’ while Mazda also debuted the smart-looking MX-30, its first electric crossover.


—Peter Lyon, Forbes, 29 June 2021


See More

In fact, mommy is SO smart that she rapes all the silly vain ’smart’ women, forcing them into pregnancy or death. ❋ Unknown (2006)

Of course, you could also argue that Bob was smart enough to get himself into those rarefied realms in the first place, but there is a lot more to that than ’smart.’ ❋ Unknown (2005)

After all, the term «smart growth» was first coined in Maryland. ❋ Unknown (2011)

Harvard international affairs expert Joseph Nye, often credited with coining the term «smart power,» said Clinton and Obama had made strides in coordinating work between the Pentagon and the State Department. ❋ Reuters (2011)

Research reveals the UK is confused by the term smart/casual ❋ Unknown (2010)

On the security side, the competitive picture is — you know, McAfee acquired Secure Computing so where we would use the term smart filter, our sum product in that are the web watcher product, that hasn’t really changed. ❋ Unknown (2009)

One website, Macaoyuan, features a popular posting named 30 Money Saving Tricks, which is geared towards what it calls smart penny pinching women in Shanghai. ❋ Unknown (2011)

Apple Olive Oil Cake Many people think a healthy diet doesn’t include desserts, but pastry chef Amanda Tutone is a firm believer in what she calls «smart indulgence.» ❋ Jen Murphy (2012)

We do have an early ETF business that is more focused on what we call smart passive strategies for fixed-income investing. ❋ Karen Damato (2011)

And therefore, African Americans and Latinos have an equal stake in what I describe as a smart on crime approach to fixing the system. ❋ Kamala D. Harris (2011)

He’s done it with a book promoting what he calls smart solutions to climate change. ❋ Unknown (2010)

But the deeper benefit is, I think, our customer focus, our extreme knowledge of our customers, and our ability to give them what I call a smart shopping experience. ❋ Unknown (2010)

Clinton said the U.S. will apply pressure wherever it may be needed, but using what she calls smart power. ❋ Unknown (2009)

She was sort of suggesting the unilateralism, as it’s called, of the Bush administration, will be replaced by what she called smart diplomacy. ❋ Unknown (2009)

❋ Anonymous (2003)

[George W. Bush] is so [not smart]. ❋ Gonadfry (2005)

1) That japanese kid is smart. He got his PHD before he was 20.
2) Jennifer is finally loosening up. Back in high school she was just too [book-smart] and had no clue about what was going on.
3) Hey [Swaggart], thats a smart looking suit you’ve got on.
4) Ouch, a [paper cut]… that smarts! ❋ Pythonspam (2003)

i am so smart, i [kno] my [abc’s] A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I , J, K….R, Y, Z!!!!!!!!! [hooray]! ❋ Chels (2004)

[Joseph] is smart because he can learn math and [chess] [faster] than the average person ❋ Jeff Besoz (2020)

She didn’t [vote] for [Bush], [therefore] she is smart. ❋ WAGMIRE (2005)

wow that girl is really smart.yea she has a nice set of «goals» [infront] of her.i always [like a girl] with intelligence.<[guy3]>do you think she was tutored? ❋ Grill (2005)

[That girl] is [pretty] and very smart, that is the best [way to be]! ❋ No Comment Ever (2008)

[This kid] is [really] smart ❋ SAMIFOGPORDC (2019)

[I like] [Sophia] because she’s smart and [she’s cute]. ❋ Evenstar (2007)

English[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

• (General American) IPA^(key): /smɑɹt/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /smɑːt/
• Rhymes: -ɑː(ɹ)t

Etymology 1[edit]

From Middle English smerten, from Old English smeortan (“to smart”), from Proto-Germanic *smertaną (“to hurt, ache”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)merd- (“to bite, sting”). Cognate with Scots smert, Dutch smarten, German schmerzen, Danish smerte, Swedish smärta.

Verb[edit]

smart (third-person singular simple present smarts, present participle smarting, simple past smarted or (obsolete) smort, past participle smarted or (obsolete) smorten)

1. (intransitive) To hurt or sting.

   After being hit with a pitch, the batter exclaimed «Ouch, my arm smarts!»

   • 1897, Bram Stoker, chapter 21, in Dracula, New York, N.Y.: Modern Library, →OCLC:

     He moved convulsively, and as he did so, said, «I’ll be quiet, Doctor. Tell them to take off the strait waistcoat. I have had a terrible dream, and it has left me so weak that I cannot move. What’s wrong with my face? It feels all swollen, and it smarts dreadfully.»

2. (transitive) To cause a smart or sting in.
   • a. 1652, Thomas Adams, Faith’s Encouragement

     A goad that […] smarts the flesh.

3. (intransitive) To feel a pungent pain of mind; to feel sharp pain or grief; be punished severely; to feel the sting of evil.
   • He that is surety for a stranger shall smart for it.

   • 1790, Ann Ward Radcliffe, chapter 11, in A Sicilian Romance‎^[1], HTML edition:

     Meanwhile the Abate exulted in successful vengeance, and the marquis smarted beneath the stings of disappointment.

Derived terms[edit]

• arsesmart
• besmart
• nosesmart
• smartful
• smarting
• smartweed

Translations[edit]

Etymology 2[edit]

From Middle English smert, smart, from Old English smeart (“smarting, smart, painful”), from Proto-Germanic *smartaz (“hurting, aching”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)merd- (“to bite, sting”). Cognate with Scots smert (“painful, smart”), Old Frisian smert (“sharp, painful”).

Adjective[edit]

smart (comparative smarter or more smart, superlative smartest or most smart)

1. Exhibiting social ability or cleverness.

   Synonyms: bright, capable, sophisticated, witty

   Antonyms: backward, banal, boorish, dull, inept

   • 1811, [Jane Austen], chapter 19, in Sense and Sensibility […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), London: […] C[harles] Roworth, […], and published by T[homas] Egerton, […], →OCLC:

     I always preferred the church, and I still do. But that was not smart enough for my family. They recommended the army. That was a great deal too smart for me.

2. (informal) Exhibiting intellectual knowledge, such as that found in books.

   Synonyms: cultivated, educated, learned; see also Thesaurus:learned

   Antonyms: ignorant, uncultivated, simple

3. (often in combination) Equipped with intelligent behaviour (digital/computer technology).

   smart car

   smartcard

   smartphone

5. Good-looking; well dressed; fine; fashionable.

   Synonyms: attractive, chic, dapper, stylish, handsome

   Antonyms: garish, outré, tacky

   a smart outfit

   You look smart in that business suit.

6. Cleverly shrewd and humorous in a way that may be rude and disrespectful.

   Synonym: silly

   He became tired of his daughter’s sarcasm and smart remarks.

   Don’t get smart with me!

   • 1728, Edward Young, Satire

     Who, for the poor renown of being smart / Would leave a sting within a brother’s heart?

   • 1711 October 1 (Gregorian calendar)​, Joseph Addison; Richard Steele [et al.], “THURSDAY, September 20, 1711”, in The Spectator, number 175; republished in Alexander Chalmers, editor, The Spectator; a New Edition, […], volume II, New York, N.Y.: D[aniel] Appleton & Company, 1853, →OCLC:

     I played a sentence or two at my butt, which I thought very smart, when my ill genius, who I verily believed inspired him purely for my destruction, suggested to him such a reply

7. Sudden and intense.

   • 1702–1704, Edward [Hyde, 1st] Earl of Clarendon, “(please specify |book=I to XVI)”, in The History of the Rebellion and Civil Wars in England, Begun in the Year 1641. […], Oxford, Oxfordshire: Printed at the Theater, published 1707, →OCLC:

     smart skirmishes, in which many fell

   • 1860 July 9, Henry David Thoreau, journal entry, from Thoreau’s bird-lore, Francis H. Allen (editor), Houghton Mifflin (Boston, 1910), Thoreau on Birds: notes on New England birds from the Journals of Henry David Thoreau, Beacon Press, (Boston, 1993), page 239:

     There is a smart shower at 5 P.M., and in the midst of it a hummingbird is busy about the flowers in the garden, unmindful of it, though you would think that each big drop that struck him would be a serious accident.

8. Causing sharp pain; stinging.

   • c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene i]:

     How smart a lash that speech doth give my conscience.

9. Sharp; keen; poignant.

   a smart pain

10. (Southern US, dated) Intense in feeling; painful. Used usually with the adverb intensifier right.

    He raised his voice, and it hurt her feelings right smart.

    That cast on his leg chaffs him right smart.

11. (archaic) Efficient; vigorous; brilliant.

    • 1697, Virgil, “Georgic 1”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC:

      The stars shine smarter.

12. (archaic) Pretentious; showy; spruce.

    a smart gown

13. (archaic) Brisk; fresh.

    a smart breeze

[edit]

Descendants[edit]

• → Danish: smart
• → German: smart
• → Norwegian:
  • Norwegian Bokmål: smart
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: smart
• → Swedish: smart

Translations[edit]

Etymology 3[edit]

From Middle English smerte, from smerten (“to smart”); see above. Cognate with Scots smert, Dutch smart, Low German smart, German Schmerz, Danish smerte, Swedish smärta. More above.

Noun[edit]

smart (plural smarts)

1. A sharp, quick, lively pain; a sting.
   • 1715–1720, Homer; [Alexander] Pope, transl., “Book 5”, in The Iliad of Homer, volume (please specify |volume=I to VI), London: […] W[illiam] Bowyer, for Bernard Lintott […], →OCLC, lines 176-178, page 25:

     If chance some Shepherd with a distant Dart / The Savage wound, he rowzes at the Smart, / He foams, he roars […]

   • 1948, Graham Greene, chapter 1, in The Heart of the Matter, London: Heinemann, Book One, Part One, section 8, page 42:^[2]

     The smart of his wounded hand woke Scobie at two in the morning.

2. Mental pain or suffering; grief; affliction.
   • 1624 (date written)​, John Milton, “On the Death of a Fair Infant Dying of a Cough”, in Poems, &c. upon Several Occasions, London: […] Tho[mas] Dring […], →OCLC, page 20:

     But oh why didst thou not stay here below / To bless us with thy heav’n lov’d innocence, […] / To stand ’twixt us and our deserved smart / But thou canst best perform that office where thou art.

   • 1860 December – 1861 August, Charles Dickens, chapter VIII, in Great Expectations […], volume I, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published October 1861, →OCLC, page 130:

     I was so humiliated, hurt, spurned, offended, angry, sorry,—I cannot hit upon the right name for the smart—God knows what its name was,—that tears started to my eyes.

   • 2004, Alan Hollinghurst, chapter 9, in The Line of Beauty, New York: Bloomsbury, →OCLC:

     […] Bertrand said, ‘No, you bloody idiot, do you think I drink this? I want mineral water.’ The girl recoiled for just a second at the smart of his tone […] and then apologized with steely insincerity.

3. Smart-money.
4. (slang, dated) A dandy; one who is smart in dress; one who is brisk, vivacious, or clever.

   • 1743, Henry Fielding, chapter III, in The History of the Adventures of Joseph Andrews, and His Friend Mr. Abraham Adams. […], volume II, 3rd edition, London: […] A[ndrew] Millar, […], →OCLC, book III, page 27:

     […] I resolved to quit all further Conversation with Beaus and Smarts of every kind […]

Derived terms[edit]

• smartful

Anagrams[edit]

• MSTAR, marts, stram, tarms, trams

Danish[edit]

Etymology[edit]

Borrowed from English smart.

Adjective[edit]

smart (neuter smart, plural and definite singular attributive smarte, comparative smartere, superlative (predicative) smartest, superlative (attributive) smarteste)

1. (of a solution, contraption, plan etc.) well thought-out, neat
2. snazzy, fashionable, dapper

Derived terms[edit]

• oversmart

Dutch[edit]

Alternative forms[edit]

• smert (dialectal)

Etymology[edit]

From Middle Dutch smarte, from Proto-Germanic *smertaną. Cf. German Schmerz, English smart.

Pronunciation[edit]

• IPA^(key): /smɑrt/
• Hyphenation: smart
• Rhymes: -ɑrt

Noun[edit]

smart f (plural smarten)

1. pain, sorrow, grief

Usage notes[edit]

• Other than in the saying met smart, the word is nowadays considered to be dated.

Derived terms[edit]

• gedeelde smart is halve smart
• met smart
• smartengeld

Descendants[edit]

• Negerhollands: smert, smerte

German[edit]

Etymology[edit]

Borrowed from English smart, 19th c.

Pronunciation[edit]

• IPA^(key): /smaːɐ̯t/, /smaʁt/

Adjective[edit]

smart (strong nominative masculine singular smarter, comparative smarter, superlative am smartesten)

1. smart (exhibiting social ability or cleverness)

   Synonyms: aufgeweckt, clever, gewitzt, pfiffig

   • 1862, “Amerikanische Zwangsmaßregel”, in Die Gartenlaube‎^[3], number 20, page 320:

     Während in New York und andern östlichen Städten der einfachste kürzeste Proceßgang darin besteht, ist in vielen der westlichen Staaten ein „smarter“ Miether im Stande, fast noch ein Jahr nach geschehener Aufkündigung ein Haus zu bewohnen, ohne nur einen Pfennig Miethe zu zahlen.

     (please add an English translation of this quote)

   • 1910, Walther Kabel, Der schlafende Fakir‎^[4]:

     Da vertraute ich mich meinem Chef, Herrn William Hawkens, an, der ein viel zu smarter Geschäftsmann ist, als daß er nicht das nötige Verständnis für diese unter Umständen recht einträgliche Idee gehabt hätte.

     (please add an English translation of this quote)

   • 2017, Rechtsanwalt Dr. Thomas M. Grupp, Maître en droit (Aix-Marseille III), “Entwicklungen im Umfeld einer Rechts- und Gerichtsstandswahl in Zeiten von Brexit”, in Europäische Zeitschrift für Wirtschaftsrecht (EuZW)‎^[5], number 24, page 977:

     Die ersichtlichen Bemühungen, einen smarteren Ausstieg aus der EU zu erreichen, decken sich mit den beiden eingangs schon erwähnten Positionspapieren, die von der britischen Regierung im August 2017 zu Themen einer grenzüberschreitenden zivilgerichtlichen Zusammenarbeit und zur Rechtsdurchsetzung und Streitlösung (Dispute Resolution) veröffentlicht worden sind.

     (please add an English translation of this quote)

2. smart (good-looking, well-dressed)

   Synonyms: chic, elegant, fein

Declension[edit]

Further reading[edit]

• “smart” in Duden online
• “smart” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache

Maltese[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

• IPA^(key): /smart/

Verb[edit]

smart

1. first/second-person singular perfect of smar

Middle English[edit]

Adjective[edit]

smart

1. Alternative form of smert

Norwegian Bokmål[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From English smart.

Adjective[edit]

smart (neuter singular smart, definite singular and plural smarte, comparative smartere, indefinite superlative smartest, definite superlative smarteste)

1. clever (mentally sharp or bright)
2. smart

Derived terms[edit]

• smartklokke
• smarttelefon

References[edit]

• “smart” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Norwegian Nynorsk[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From English smart.

Adjective[edit]

smart (neuter singular smart, definite singular and plural smarte, comparative smartare, indefinite superlative smartast, definite superlative smartaste)

1. clever (mentally sharp or bright)
2. smart

Derived terms[edit]

• smartklokke
• smarttelefon

References[edit]

• “smart” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Spanish[edit]

Adjective[edit]

smart (invariable)

1. smart (with smart technology)

Swedish[edit]

Etymology[edit]

Borrowed from English smart.

Pronunciation[edit]

Adjective[edit]

smart (comparative smartare, superlative smartast)

1. smart; clever

Declension[edit]

Inflection of smart
Indefinite	Positive	Comparative	Superlative2
Common singular	smart	smartare	smartast
Neuter singular	smart	smartare	smartast
Plural	smarta	smartare	smartast
Masculine plural3	smarte	smartare	smartast
Definite	Positive	Comparative	Superlative
Masculine singular1	smarte	smartare	smartaste
All	smarta	smartare	smartaste
1) Only used, optionally, to refer to things whose natural gender is masculine. 2) The indefinite superlative forms are only used in the predicative. 3) Dated or archaic

Anagrams[edit]

• tarms, trams

Britannica Dictionary definition of SMART

Britannica Dictionary definition of SMART

[no object]

Britannica Dictionary definition of SMART

What does the word ‘Smart’ mean?

It can be used as a Noun, a Verb or an Adjective. When used as a noun or verb, it means a stinging pain or suffering. But when used as an adjective, it can have three possible meanings. If someone or something is clean, tidy, or fresh, we use the adjective “smart”. Then, it is also used to signify something which shows quick-witted intelligence and sometimes for quickness.

Which of these meanings is implied, when we use the word smart before a city? Is it used as a noun, like, “Smart-City” or is it used as an adjective “Smart” city?

Probably, it is used as an adjective and not a noun, although, the concept can acquire the meaning as a noun if not checked properly. When it is used before technology, then, it transforms it to something which can respond to the situation on its own, it becomes autonomous. So, if we use it as an adjective, then we mean something which is clean, tidy, fresh as well as also capable of autonomous action. Smart cities, with its immense focus on technology and cleanliness, should also be autonomous.

The only use of technology does not guarantee smartness. Very often we confuse the two to mean the same thing, but they are different. How do cities become smart? There could be various ways of earning the tag of smartness, but all these ways depend on a pre-requisite, knowledge. All cities must become knowledgeable before they become smart. Cities must understand its infrastructure, people, and nature before they start thinking about ways to become smart.

There has been a massive exercise carried out by all cities, who participated in smart city challenge, to ‘consult’ its citizens. The consultation process was done online as well as offline. Thousands of FGDs and ward meetings were conducted, Facebook likes were counted, online feedbacks were sought, and logo design and essay competitions were held. It was a massive exercise in terms of scale. Consulting presupposes the existence of knowledge and entails only its transfer. It is not a process where knowledge is created through forces of inter-subjectivity, but where it is only transmitted.

What did it produce?

It produced a series of charts, tag clouds, Facebook likes and, through these, identified priorities of citizens. Can these be counted as knowledge about cities? It is important that we understand the relationship between information and knowledge in the contemporary world.

Lyotard, in his seminal work, The Postmodern Condition: A report on knowledge, commenting on the impact of technological transformation on the knowledge, writes that:

“We can predict that anything in the constituted body of knowledge that is not translatable in this way will be abandoned and that the direction of new research will be dictated by the possibility of its eventual results being translatable into computer knowledge.”

What a foresight!

All these consultations could have generated hundreds of ways of knowing the city. It had the possibility of generating so many stories about the city, its places, people, and systems. The intimate knowledge of a street hawker about the city square, of a rag picker about the metabolism of the city and an auto-driver about the spatial linkages, could have been the foundational knowledge of the smart city. Instead, what it produced is data, unable to tell stories on its own.

We come back to the link between knowledge as a foundation for being smart and autonomous. The informal city is the smart city. It is lean enough to pass through the cracks of the formal city, it is shrewd enough to escape the oppressiveness of formal structures and it is smart enough to act on its own. It does not need state subsidies and institutions to survive. It has survived, not due to state, but in spite of the state. The informal city understands city-residents and city-systems. It understands the city through narratives and not numbers and, therefore, it has survived. It is smart because it has intimate knowledge of the city.

Coming back to the question raised earlier, what does smart mean? It can mean, a stinging pain or quick-witted intelligence and autonomy, depending on whether we fail or succeed to understand the city and gain intimate knowledge of it before trying to transform it.