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In search of the Smart Citizen: Republican and cybernetic citizenship in the smart city

Author

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  • Dorien Zandbergen

    (University of Amsterdam, Netherlands)

  • Justus Uitermark

    (University of Amsterdam, Netherlands)

Abstract

The smart city has been both celebrated for opening up decision-making processes through responsive digital infrastructures, and criticised for turning citizens into mere nodes of socio-technical networks under corporate or government control. In line with these depictions, smart city politics is often analysed as a struggle between aspirations for bottom-up participatory democracy and authoritarian control. Drawing on ethnographic research on an Amsterdam project which encourages citizens to collect and share air quality data, we problematise this vertical reading of smart city politics. The project mobilises both republican citizenship and cybernetic citizenship, each assuming different logics regarding the ways in which citizens negotiate urban life by means of data and sensing technologies. While republican citizenship emphasises citizens’ sovereignty, cybernetic citizenship emphasises their immersion into informational environments. We demonstrate how, depending on specific situated interests and forms of engagement, both kinds of citizenship feed into appealing visions of urban life for different actors.

Suggested Citation

  • Dorien Zandbergen & Justus Uitermark, 2020. "In search of the Smart Citizen: Republican and cybernetic citizenship in the smart city," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 57(8), pages 1733-1748, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:urbstu:v:57:y:2020:i:8:p:1733-1748
    DOI: 10.1177/0042098019847410
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Nick Couldry & Alison Powell, 2014. "Big data from the bottom up," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 57941, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    2. Robert G. Hollands, 2008. "Will the real smart city please stand up?," City, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 12(3), pages 303-320, December.
    3. Simon Joss & Matthew Cook & Youri Dayot, 2017. "Smart Cities: Towards a New Citizenship Regime? A Discourse Analysis of the British Smart City Standard," Journal of Urban Technology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 24(4), pages 29-49, October.
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    Cited by:

    1. Battulga Buyannemekh & Mila Gasco-Hernandez & J. Ramon Gil-Garcia, 2024. "Fostering Smart Citizens: The Role of Public Libraries in Smart City Development," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(5), pages 1-26, February.
    2. Aisha Sobey, 2023. "Obliged smart freedom: The Singaporean experience of advanced neoliberal-developmental governance," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 60(16), pages 3336-3352, December.
    3. Dezhi Li & Wentao Wang & Guanying Huang & Shenghua Zhou & Shiyao Zhu & Haibo Feng, 2023. "How to Enhance Citizens’ Sense of Gain in Smart Cities? A SWOT-AHP-TOWS Approach," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 165(3), pages 787-820, February.
    4. Raquel Pérez‐delHoyo & Higinio Mora & José Manuel Nolasco‐Vidal & Rubén Abad‐Ortiz & Rafael A. Mollá‐Sirvent, 2021. "Addressing new challenges in smart urban planning using Information and Communication Technologies," Systems Research and Behavioral Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 38(3), pages 342-354, May.
    5. Seung-Yoon Shin & Dongwook Kim & Soon Ae Chun, 2021. "Digital Divide in Advanced Smart City Innovations," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(7), pages 1-22, April.

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