Following the celebration of the “creative city” (as described by Richard Florida), the “smart city” has become the new flavor of the month—and a brand. It makes clever use of resources, and it attracts money, corporate power, and private industries. Offering us cheap, effective solutions to social and political problems, the smart city is functional, […]
The City as Platform | David Bollier
In the age of ubiquitous Internet connections, smartphones and data, the future vitality of cities is increasingly based on their ability to use digital networks in intelligent, strategic ways. While we are accustomed to thinking of cities as geophysical places governed by mayors, conventional political structures and bureaucracies, this template of city governance is under great pressure to evolve. Urban dwellers now live their lives in all sorts of hyper-connected virtual spaces, pulsating with real-time information, intelligent devices, remote-access databases and participatory crowdsourcing. Expertise is distributed, not centralized. Governance is not just a matter of winning elections and assigning tasks to bureaucracies; it is about the skillful collection and curation of information as a way to create new affordances for commerce and social life.
Reclaiming the Smart City: Personal Data, Trust and the New Commons
Why and how city governments are taking a more responsible approach to the collection and use of personal data.
A City Is Not a Computer: Other Urban Intelligences
<strong>A bold reassessment of "smart cities" that reveals what is lost when we conceive of our urban spaces as computers</strong> Computational models of urbanism—smart cities that use data-driven planning and algorithmic administration—promise to deliver new urban efficiencies and conveniences. Yet these models limit our understanding of what we can know about a city. <i>A City Is Not a Computer</i> reveals how cities encompass myriad forms of local and indigenous intelligences and knowledge institutions, arguing that these resources are a vital supplement and corrective to increasingly prevalent algorithmic models. Shannon Mattern begins by examining the ethical and ontological implications of urban technologies and computational models, discussing how they shape and in many cases profoundly limit our engagement with cities. She looks at the methods and underlying assumptions of data-driven urbanism, and demonstrates how the "city-as-computer" metaphor, which undergirds much of today's urban policy and design, reduces place-based knowledge to information processing. Mattern then imagines how we might sustain institutions and infrastructures that constitute more diverse, open, inclusive urban forms. She shows how the public library functions as a steward of urban intelligence, and describes the scales of upkeep needed to sustain a city's many moving parts, from spinning hard drives to bridge repairs. Incorporating insights from urban studies, data science, and media and information studies, <i>A City Is Not a Computer</i> offers a visionary new approach to urban planning and design.
A City in Common: A Framework to Orchestrate Large-scale Citizen Engagement around Urban Issues
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CityLab - Bloomberg
Bloomberg CityLab reports on the world’s cities, communities, and neighborhoods: How they work, the challenges they face, and the solutions they need.
How Seoul is Reinventing Itself as a Techno-Utopia | Backchannel
In a moment of crisis, South Korea's capital is becoming a leader in big data.
As tech companies race to build data centers, more communities are pushing back
Concerns about electricity bills and local impacts are fueling bipartisan opposition to the massive data centers that power the digital economy, from cloud services to AI chatbots. In Wisconsin, as in other states, the tussles are personal – and fraught.
Welcome to the neighbourhood. Have you read the terms of service? | CBC News
Toronto is becoming a test bed for new smart-city technology, but some observers are concerned about the privacy of the data the city would be collecting.
Tepito: A Neighborhood Governs Itself
A dispatch from Mexico City's legendary barrio reveals how true innovation—from sound-system message networks to black-market tech adaptation—happens far beyond Silicon Valley. Filmmaker and technologist Violeta Ayala explores how self-governance, resistance, and raw intensity shape the future of technology and human connection.
Democracy blindsides Silicon Valley’s power players looking to transform the world with AI
‘The push against datacenters speaks to the frustration of people who don’t feel they are making the choices in their lives’
A City Is Not a Computer
This seems an obvious truth, but we need to say it loud and clear. Urban intelligence is more than information processing.
Computational Public Space
Twitter or Bluesky? How about neither.
Two fundamental problems constrain the business model of the “digital town square.”
Thrilled to share that our project @roundabout.town (give them a follow!) will be powering new, healthy digital public spaces in Chicago! This is part of chicago.com, a partnership with Chicago Public Media, which is the @chicago.suntimes.com and @wbez.org. niemanlab.org/2026/08/can-public-media-buil…
Can public media build its own social network? Chicago Public Media teams up with New_ Public to try
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