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Ethics of Smart Cities: Towards Value-Sensitive Design and Co-Evolving City Life

Author

Listed:
  • Dirk Helbing

    (Computational Social Science, Department of Humanities, Social and Political Sciences, ETH Zürich, 8092 Zürich, Switzerland
    Complexity Science Hub Vienna, 1080 Wien, Austria
    Current address: Stampfenbachstrasse 48, 8092 Zürich, Switzerland.)

  • Farzam Fanitabasi

    (Department of Communication Science, Faculty of Social Sciences, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, 1081 HV Amsterdam, The Netherlands)

  • Fosca Giannotti

    (ISTI-CNR, 56124 Pisa, Italy)

  • Regula Hänggli

    (Department of Communication and Media Research, University of Fribourg, 1700 Fribourg, Switzerland)

  • Carina I. Hausladen

    (Computational Social Science, Department of Humanities, Social and Political Sciences, ETH Zürich, 8092 Zürich, Switzerland)

  • Jeroen van den Hoven

    (Faculty of Technology, Policy and Management, TU Delft, 2628 BX Delft, The Netherlands)

  • Sachit Mahajan

    (Computational Social Science, Department of Humanities, Social and Political Sciences, ETH Zürich, 8092 Zürich, Switzerland)

  • Dino Pedreschi

    (KDD Lab, University of Pisa, 56126 Pisa, Italy)

  • Evangelos Pournaras

    (School of Computing, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK)

Abstract

The digital revolution has brought about many societal changes such as the creation of “smart cities”. The smart city concept has changed the urban ecosystem by embedding digital technologies in the city fabric to enhance the quality of life of its inhabitants. However, it has also led to some pressing issues and challenges related to data, privacy, ethics inclusion, and fairness. While the initial concept of smart cities was largely technology- and data-driven, focused on the automation of traffic, logistics and processes, this concept is currently being replaced by technology-enabled, human-centred solutions. However, this is not the end of the development, as there is now a big trend towards “design for values”. In this paper, we point out how a value-sensitive design approach could promote a more sustainable pathway of cities that better serves people and nature. Such “value-sensitive design” will have to take ethics, law and culture on board. We discuss how organising the digital world in a participatory way, as well as leveraging the concepts of self-organisation, self-regulation, and self-control, would foster synergy effects and thereby help to leverage a sustainable technological revolution on a global scale. Furthermore, a “democracy by design” approach could also promote resilience.

Suggested Citation

  • Dirk Helbing & Farzam Fanitabasi & Fosca Giannotti & Regula Hänggli & Carina I. Hausladen & Jeroen van den Hoven & Sachit Mahajan & Dino Pedreschi & Evangelos Pournaras, 2021. "Ethics of Smart Cities: Towards Value-Sensitive Design and Co-Evolving City Life," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(20), pages 1-25, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:20:p:11162-:d:652747
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Songling Chang & Melanie Kay Smith, 2023. "Residents’ Quality of Life in Smart Cities: A Systematic Literature Review," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(4), pages 1-17, April.
    2. Sachit Mahajan & Ming-Kuang Chung & Jenny Martinez & Yris Olaya & Dirk Helbing & Ling-Jyh Chen, 2022. "Translating citizen-generated air quality data into evidence for shaping policy," Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 9(1), pages 1-18, December.
    3. Kathrin Bednar & Sarah Spiekermann, 2024. "The Power of Ethics: Uncovering Technology Risks and Positive Value Potentials in IT Innovation Planning," Business & Information Systems Engineering: The International Journal of WIRTSCHAFTSINFORMATIK, Springer;Gesellschaft für Informatik e.V. (GI), vol. 66(2), pages 181-201, April.
    4. Dashkevych, Oleg & Portnov, Boris A., 2024. "How can generative AI help in different parts of research? An experiment study on smart cities’ definitions and characteristics," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).

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