Resumen
In recent decades the development of urban areas has become a global trend, leading to not only certain benefits, but also hidden threats. It becomes obvious that successful and comfortable living of people in cities is impossible without the use of innovative approaches to managing and organizing life. In a broad sense, the currently used concept of a "smart city" reflects a set of measures to create a high-tech and comfortable environment. The article analyzes the foreign and Russian studies in the field of smart cities, its definitions and components. The article is devoted to the conceptualization of a smart city concept from the position of the socio-technical approach, which assumes the emphasis not on the dominant idea of creating a comfortable environment for citizens? life, but on meeting the needs of participants in the smart city system.