In December 2017 the Hong Kong Government launched the Smart City Blueprint (www.smartcity. gov.hk). In this, a series of 76 objectives for Hong Kong were announced under six themes; “Smart Mobility”, “Smart Living”, “Smart Environment”, “Smart People”, “Smart Government” and “Smart Economy”. 

Concurrent with this initiative has been the development by a number of international bodies, including the International Standards Organization (ISO), the European Committee for Standardization (CEN) and the British Standards (BSI) for formulated standards in ‘smart’ urban development (SSCC-CG 2015). 

This paper provides a critique of the Smart City Blueprint for Hong Kong in relation to these international standards that have been developed, using international case studies to assess and offer alternatives to the design strategies and methodological approaches in place.