In this study, the case of Amsterdam Smart City is regarded in terms of Michel Foucault’s governmentality framework and more specifically in relation to sustainable issues and goals.

Building upon Foucault’s philosophical approach, the historical development of sus- tainable thought, new urbanism and smart city scholarship, this study aims to connect dif- ferent fields of thought that intertwine in such a complex and broad notion of the smart city. Combining a genealogical approach towards the development of sustainable thought and governmentality in Western European society, and performing a case study of the commu- nication material of this smart city initiative in Amsterdam, a more inclusive insight in smart city realisation is given. It appears that economic and ecological goals are theoretical- ly hard to align, but the smart city initiative is an attempt to do so. Technology is proposed as a solution, but specificities are left out. The citizen is presented as an important factor in the smart city, but is governed by the incomplete information provided about technological solutions in the urban environment.

Keywords: SMART CITIES, AMSTERDAM, SUSTAINABILITY, GOVERNMENTALITY, NEOLIBERALISM, ENVI- RONMENTALITY, COMMUNICATION