How smart is the Smart City?

In part two of this four-part series on cities and technology, we turned our attention to smart cities. This concept gained some traction over the last decade as a technocratic solution to urban problems. Through the use of open data, widespread surveillance systems, and various digital data-generating tools, the smart city promised an apolitical suite of practices that could improve and optimize city governance and life. But as we learned in Part One, nothing about technology is politically neutral. We speak with four different scholars on their work in the smart cities arena and how it intersects with postcolonial critique, economic development, and the politics of open data. Visit our website for more information and a reading list.

GUESTS 

David Banks, SUNY, University at Albany 

Ryan Burns, University of Calgary 

Ayonna Datta, University College London 

Shannon Mattern, University of Pennsylvania 

Erin McElroy, University of Washington 

John Stehlin, University of North Carolina at Greensboro 

CREDITS 

Many thanks to the Lindy Institute for Urban Innovation at Drexel University, the managing editors at Urban Affairs Review, and our guests for sharing their time and insights with us. The show’s music is “Hundred Mile” by K2, courtesy of Blue Dot Sessions. 

Producer and sound engineer: David Weems, Drexel University 

Executive Producer and writer: Emily Holloway, Associate Managing Editor, Urban Affairs Review. 

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