IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/urbstu/v61y2024i6p1168-1182.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The rise of AI urbanism in post-smart cities: A critical commentary on urban artificial intelligence

Author

Listed:
  • Federico Cugurullo

    (Trinity College Dublin, Ireland)

  • Federico Caprotti

    (University of Exeter, UK)

  • Matthew Cook

    (The Open University, UK)

  • Andrew Karvonen

    (Lund University, Sweden)

  • Pauline MᶜGuirk

    (University of Wollongong, Australia)

  • Simon Marvin

    (The University of Sydney, Australia)

Abstract

Artificial intelligence (AI) is emerging as an impactful feature of the life, planning and governance of 21st-century cities. Once confined to the realm of science fiction and small-scale technological experiments, AI is now all around us, in the shape of urban artificial intelligences including autonomous cars, robots, city brains and urban software agents. The aim of this article is to critically examine the nature of urbanism in the emergent age of AI. More specifically, we shed light on how urban AI is impacting the development of cities, and argue that an urbanism influenced by AI, which we term AI urbanism , differs in theory and practice from smart urbanism. In the future, the rise of a post-smart urbanism driven by AI has the potential to form autonomous cities that transcend, theoretically and empirically, traditional smart cities. The article compares common practices and understandings of smart urbanism with emerging forms of urban living, urban governance and urban planning influenced by AI. It critically discusses the limitations and potential pitfalls of AI urbanism and offers conceptual tools and a vocabulary to understand the urbanity of AI and its impact on present and future cities.

Suggested Citation

  • Federico Cugurullo & Federico Caprotti & Matthew Cook & Andrew Karvonen & Pauline MᶜGuirk & Simon Marvin, 2024. "The rise of AI urbanism in post-smart cities: A critical commentary on urban artificial intelligence," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 61(6), pages 1168-1182, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:urbstu:v:61:y:2024:i:6:p:1168-1182
    DOI: 10.1177/00420980231203386
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/00420980231203386
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/00420980231203386?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Jacob W. Crandall & Mayada Oudah & Tennom & Fatimah Ishowo-Oloko & Sherief Abdallah & Jean-François Bonnefon & Manuel Cebrian & Azim Shariff & Michael A. Goodrich & Iyad Rahwan, 2018. "Cooperating with machines," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 9(1), pages 1-12, December.
      • Abdallah, Sherief & Bonnefon, Jean-François & Cebrian, Manuel & Crandall, Jacob W. & Ishowo-Oloko, Fatimah & Oudah, Mayada & Rahwan, Iyad & Shariff, Azim & Tennom,, 2017. "Cooperating with Machines," TSE Working Papers 17-806, Toulouse School of Economics (TSE).
      • Abdallah, Sherief & Bonnefon, Jean-François & Cebrian, Manuel & Crandall, Jacob W. & Ishowo-Oloko, Fatimah & Oudah, Mayada & Rahwan, Iyad & Shariff, Azim & Tennom,, 2017. "Cooperating with Machines," IAST Working Papers 17-68, Institute for Advanced Study in Toulouse (IAST).
      • Jacob Crandall & Mayada Oudah & Fatimah Ishowo-Oloko Tennom & Fatimah Ishowo-Oloko & Sherief Abdallah & Jean-François Bonnefon & Manuel Cebrian & Azim Shariff & Michael Goodrich & Iyad Rahwan, 2018. "Cooperating with machines," Post-Print hal-01897802, HAL.
    2. Dean Curran & Alan Smart, 2021. "Data-driven governance, smart urbanism and risk-class inequalities: Security and social credit in China," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 58(3), pages 487-506, February.
    3. Federico Cugurullo, 2013. "How to Build a Sandcastle: An Analysis of the Genesis and Development of Masdar City," Journal of Urban Technology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 20(1), pages 23-37, January.
    4. Sophia Maalsen, 2022. "The hack: What it is and why it matters to urban studies," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 59(2), pages 453-465, February.
    5. Edmond Awad & Sohan Dsouza & Richard Kim & Jonathan Schulz & Joseph Henrich & Azim Shariff & Jean-François Bonnefon & Iyad Rahwan, 2018. "The Moral Machine experiment," Nature, Nature, vol. 563(7729), pages 59-64, November.
    6. Michele Masucci & Hamil Pearsall & Alan Wiig, 2020. "The Smart City Conundrum for Social Justice: Youth Perspectives on Digital Technologies and Urban Transformations," Annals of the American Association of Geographers, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 110(2), pages 476-484, March.
    7. Sara Safransky, 2020. "Geographies of Algorithmic Violence: Redlining the Smart City," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 44(2), pages 200-218, March.
    8. Sarah Barns, 2021. "Out of the loop? On the radical and the routine in urban big data," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 58(15), pages 3203-3210, November.
    9. Aidan H While & Simon Marvin & Mateja Kovacic, 2021. "Urban robotic experimentation: San Francisco, Tokyo and Dubai," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 58(4), pages 769-786, March.
    10. Ryan Burns & Victoria Fast & Anthony Levenda & Byron Miller, 2021. "Smart cities: Between worlding and provincialising," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 58(3), pages 461-470, February.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Mikołaj Biesaga & Anna Domaradzka & Magdalena Roszczyńska-Kurasińska & Szymon Talaga & Andrzej Nowak, 2023. "The effect of the pandemic on European narratives on smart cities and surveillance," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 60(10), pages 1894-1914, August.
    2. Zaheer Allam & Simon Elias Bibri & David Jones & Didier Chabaud & Carlos Moreno, 2022. "Unpacking the ‘15-Minute City’ via 6G, IoT, and Digital Twins: Towards a New Narrative for Increasing Urban Efficiency, Resilience, and Sustainability," Post-Print hal-03997414, HAL.
    3. Tan Yigitcanlar & Federico Cugurullo, 2020. "The Sustainability of Artificial Intelligence: An Urbanistic Viewpoint from the Lens of Smart and Sustainable Cities," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(20), pages 1-24, October.
    4. Nils Köbis & Jean-François Bonnefon & Iyad Rahwan, 2021. "Bad machines corrupt good morals," Nature Human Behaviour, Nature, vol. 5(6), pages 679-685, June.
    5. Shen Yuan & Shaobing Peng, 2017. "Exploring the Trends in Nitrogen Input and Nitrogen Use Efficiency for Agricultural Sustainability," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(10), pages 1-15, October.
    6. Qian, Lixian & Yin, Juelin & Huang, Youlin & Liang, Ya, 2023. "The role of values and ethics in influencing consumers’ intention to use autonomous vehicle hailing services," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 188(C).
    7. Qiming Wang & Tao Zhang & Xinyue He & Rongfeng Jiang, 2017. "Assessment of Phosphorus Recovery from Swine Wastewater in Beijing, China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(10), pages 1-14, October.
    8. Cecilie Sachs Olsen & Merlijn van Hulst, 2024. "Reimagining Urban Living Labs: Enter the Urban Drama Lab," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 61(6), pages 991-1012, May.
    9. Kassens-Noor, Eva & Cai, Meng & Kotval-Karamchandani, Zeenat & Decaminada, Travis, 2021. "Autonomous vehicles and mobility for people with special needs," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 150(C), pages 385-397.
    10. Joanna Sleigh & Shannon Hubbs & Alessandro Blasimme & Effy Vayena, 2024. "Can digital tools foster ethical deliberation?," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 11(1), pages 1-10, December.
    11. Klockmann, Victor & von Schenk, Alicia & Villeval, Marie Claire, 2022. "Artificial intelligence, ethics, and intergenerational responsibility," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 203(C), pages 284-317.
    12. Bourreau, Marc & Cambini, Carlo & Hoernig, Steffen & Vogelsang, Ingo, 2021. "Co-investment, uncertainty, and opportunism:ex-Ante and ex-Post remedies," Information Economics and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 56(C).
    13. Shichun Xu & Wenwen Zhang & Qinbin Li & Bin Zhao & Shuxiao Wang & Ruyin Long, 2017. "Decomposition Analysis of the Factors that Influence Energy Related Air Pollutant Emission Changes in China Using the SDA Method," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(10), pages 1-18, September.
    14. Zhang, Qiyuan & Wallbridge, Christopher D. & Jones, Dylan M. & Morgan, Phillip L., 2024. "Public perception of autonomous vehicle capability determines judgment of blame and trust in road traffic accidents," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 179(C).
    15. Zaheer Allam & Ayyoob Sharifi & Simon Elias Bibri & Didier Chabaud, 2022. "Emerging Trends and Knowledge Structures of Smart Urban Governance," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(9), pages 1-29, April.
    16. Emilio Calvano & Giacomo Calzolari & Vincenzo Denicolò & Sergio Pastorello, 2019. "Algorithmic Pricing What Implications for Competition Policy?," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer;The Industrial Organization Society, vol. 55(1), pages 155-171, August.
    17. Marit Rosol & Vincent Béal & Samuel Mössner, 2017. "Greenest cities? The (post-)politics of new urban environmental regimes," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 49(8), pages 1710-1718, August.
    18. Staněk, Rostislav & Krčál, Ondřej & Čellárová, Katarína, 2022. "Pull yourself up by your bootstraps: Identifying procedural preferences against helping others in the presence of moral hazard," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 98(C).
    19. I-Chun Catherine Chang, 2017. "Failure matters: Reassembling eco-urbanism in a globalizing China," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 49(8), pages 1719-1742, August.
    20. MARTENS, David, 2020. "FAT Flow: A data science ethics framework," Working Papers 2020004, University of Antwerp, Faculty of Business and Economics.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:urbstu:v:61:y:2024:i:6:p:1168-1182. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.gla.ac.uk/departments/urbanstudiesjournal .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.