This article focuses on the deep connection between the implementation of the smart city approach in cities and neoliberal policies and how this relationship is embodied in urban life. While the smart city approach represents a management model based on technology and data that radically changes traditional urban management approaches and policy-making processes, neoliberal policies represent a set of policies in which a free-market economy comes to the fore, public services are privatised and regulations are relaxed. From a neoliberal perspective, smart city approaches encourage cities to become more competitive to stimulate economic growth and attract investment. This approach redefines the role of city governance and proposes a governance model in which stakeholders are more active and the private sector is more prominent. This is also reflected in financing urban planning and infrastructure projects. Greater involvement of the private sector and investment incentives support the realisation of large-scale urban projects. However, critics of these policies argue that urban life is becoming increasingly polarised and that neoliberal policies are creating increasing spatial injustice. The implementation of neoliberal policies in the smart city approach can lead to harmful consequences such as privatisation, social exclusion, inequality and spatial fragmentation.