Authenticity is one of those qualities that is hard to define, but you know it when you see it - or feel it. We're going to explore its meaning and its application to places this week with James Gilmore and Scott Russell Sanders.

Jim Gilmore is the man who, with his partner Joe Pine, introduced the idea of The Experience Economy. Now, Jim believes the next big idea for business is authenticity. And he believes the same may be true for cities. Jim and Joe run the business consultancy, Strategic Horizons and he is a Batten Fellow at The Graduate School of Business Administration at the University of Virginia.

From his vantage point as a writer and Distinguished Professor of English at Indiana University, Scott Russell Sanders has challenged the "brand and bland" direction of our communities and urges us to re-discover what makes each one special. Scott's latest book is A Private History of Awe, which is a coming-of-age memoir, love story, and spiritual testament.

We'll talk to Jim Gilmore and Scott Sanders about authentic places this week on Smart City.

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