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#BlockSidewalk to Barcelona: Technological sovereignty and the social license to operate smart cities

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  • Monique Mann
  • Peta Mitchell
  • Marcus Foth
  • Irina Anastasiu

Abstract

This article explores technological sovereignty as a way to respond to anxieties of control in digital urban contexts, and argues that this may promise a more meaningful social license to operate smart cities. First, we present an overview of smart city developments with a critical focus on corporatization and platform urbanism. We critique Alphabet's Sidewalk Labs development in Toronto, which faces public backlash from the #BlockSidewalk campaign in response to concerns over not just privacy, but also lack of community consultation, the prospect of the city losing its civic ability to self‐govern, and its repossession of public land and infrastructure. Second, we explore what a more responsible smart city could look like, underpinned by technological sovereignty, which is a way to use technologies to promote individual and collective autonomy and empowerment via ownership, control, and self‐governance of data and technologies. To this end, we juxtapose the Sidewalk Labs development in Toronto with the Barcelona Digital City plan. We illustrate the merits (and limits) of technological sovereignty moving toward a fairer and more equitable digital society.

Suggested Citation

  • Monique Mann & Peta Mitchell & Marcus Foth & Irina Anastasiu, 2020. "#BlockSidewalk to Barcelona: Technological sovereignty and the social license to operate smart cities," Journal of the Association for Information Science & Technology, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 71(9), pages 1103-1115, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:jinfst:v:71:y:2020:i:9:p:1103-1115
    DOI: 10.1002/asi.24387
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    2. Bryce Clayton Newell, 2023. "Surveillance as information practice," Journal of the Association for Information Science & Technology, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 74(4), pages 444-460, April.
    3. Yuho Shimizu & Shin Osaki & Takaaki Hashimoto & Kaori Karasawa, 2021. "The Social Acceptance of Collecting and Utilizing Personal Information in Smart Cities," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(16), pages 1-10, August.
    4. Yuho Shimizu & Shin Osaki & Takaaki Hashimoto & Kaori Karasawa, 2021. "How Do People View Various Kinds of Smart City Services? Focus on the Acquisition of Personal Information," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(19), pages 1-10, October.
    5. Matthew Cook & Andrew Karvonen, 2024. "Urban planning and the knowledge politics of the smart city," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 61(2), pages 370-382, February.
    6. Yeimi Xiomara Holguín Rengifo & Juan Felipe Herrera Vargas & Alejandro Valencia-Arias, 2023. "Proposal for a Comprehensive Tool to Measure Smart Cities under the Triple-Helix Model: Capacities Learning, Research, and Development," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(18), pages 1-21, September.
    7. Peter Newton & Niki Frantzeskaki, 2021. "Creating a National Urban Research and Development Platform for Advancing Urban Experimentation," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(2), pages 1-18, January.
    8. James, Alexandra & Hynes, Danielle & Whelan, Andrew & Dreher, Tanja & Humphry, Justine, 2023. "From access and transparency to refusal: Three responses to algorithmic governance," Internet Policy Review: Journal on Internet Regulation, Alexander von Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society (HIIG), Berlin, vol. 12(2), pages 1-28.

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