why we care

Mainstream smart city discourse has primarily envisioned technology-driven change that improves urban efficiency with technologies such as distributed sensors, sophisticated algorithmic data analytics, and autonomous vehicles. The most common process by which these, and many other, smart city technologies have found their ways into cities is through bilateral corporate-government deliberation. In contrast to these technology-centric visions that lack public reflection and democratic deliberation, the Lab’s Smart City Initiative places people and public value at the center of smart city efforts.