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The widespread use and the fuzziness of the smart cities concept hinder the understanding of the benefits of its adoption and explain the existence of many activities with fragmented or distorted views of what one would expect from a truly smart city. An overview of the key terms, concepts and definitions associated to smart cities demonstrates that the definitions found in the academic literature have limited scope and are overly focused on strategic drivers or specific actions, instead of making explicitly the connection between the concept of smart cities and the creation of environments that promote happiness and the well-being of their residents—the main function of a city. This paper proposes a comprehensive, human-centred, context-free definition of smart cities, which is neutral in relation to specific technologies or strategies. The proposed definition brings an endogenous vision of smart cities in which the central element is the direct participation of local actors and stakeholders in the process of thinking, defining, planning and executing social, technological and urban transformations in the city.

After publication of the original article (Lara et al. 2016), it was noted that one of the author's names was presented incorrectly. The correct name of the author (Alexander Prado Lara) has been updated in the original article, and published in this Erratum for quick reference. We apologise for any confusion this may have caused.