Smart urban technologies (SMUBTs), like mobility apps for public transportation, are implemented to improve the quality of public services and the built environment. Citizens data is constantly collected through automated, algorithm-based procedures. What kind of arrangements do local authorities and technological companies make to govern this data? And to what extent do different SMUBTs provide an added value to social inclusion in cities? Dr. Sofia Pagliarin, a post-doctoral researcher within the Erasmus Initiative Vital Cities and Citizens, received a grant from the Van Oostrom Fonds of 20.000 euros to dive into these questions. Het Van Oostrom Fonds is a named fund of Erasmus Trustfonds.
In the past decade, several European cities started a process of becoming “smart” by implementing smart urban technologies (SMUBTs), like digital identification tools for citizens to access public services and so called “geoportals” where land-use and cadastral information is available. What is new to SMUBTs is not only the technologies they are based on, but more fundamentally, because SMUBTs are data-driven. A massive amount of citizen data (big data) is constantly collected through automated, algorithm-based procedures. Data are the “raw material” of contemporary societies and essential for 21st-century cities and neighbourhoods.
Similarities and differences across SMUBTs in data governance
Public actors, like local authorities, tightly cooperate with technological private companies to plan, develop, and implement SMUBTs. The first research focus is on identifying which governance arrangements between public and private actors characterise different experiences of data-driven SMUBTs in Europe. As many SMUBTs are in an experimentation stage (“pilot projects”), a great variety of governance arrangements is expected across cities. The first research task is to identify similarities and differences across SMUBTs to define “models” of data governance.
SMUBTs and their added value for social inclusion and diversity
SMUBTs are being implemented to improve the quality of public services and the built environment. With that in mind, the second research focus is on evaluating to what extent different SMUBTs can provide an added value to society. In particular, social inclusion emerges as a key issue in contemporary societies and a relevant analytical lens to assess to what extent governance actors have accounted for the diversity of citizens when planning, developing and implementing SMUBTs.
An example of a SMUBT for social inclusion is the preventive healthcare in Helsinki, Finland. Health care data are analysed to identify individuals with the highest risks of getting sick and proactively contact those to start a prevention program, e.g. taking care of people with high blood pressure to avoid them having a heart attack or a stroke.
Timeframe and research methods
The research project lasts one year and will begin in February 2022. Qualitative empirical research (interviews, document analysis) is performed on a range of SMUBTs in a selection of European smart cities to examine their data governance arrangements and their degree of inclusion. Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) is then used to identify patterns across cities to evaluate which trajectories of data governance yield to the most inclusive SMUBTs.
Het van Oostrom Fonds
The Van Oostrom Fund was founded in 2018 by Coen van Oostrom. This fund supports research, education, programs and activities that contribute to a better understanding of the consequences and effects of applications in the construction, renovation or design of real estate for the health, creativity, productivity and well-being of users and local residents, whereby (for example and preferably) technical, economic and medical insights meet and where collaboration between disciplines, departments, faculties and/or universities takes place.
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Vital Cities and Citizens
With the Erasmus Initiative Vital Cities and Citizens, Erasmus University Rotterdam wants to help improve the quality of life in cities. In vital cities, the population can achieve their life goals through education, useful work and participation in public life. The vital city is a platform for creativity and diversity, a safe meeting place for different social groups. The researchers involved focus on one of the four sub-themes:• Inclusive Cities and Diversity
• Resilient Cities and People
• Smart Cities and Communities
• Sustainable and Just CitiesVCC is a collaboration between Erasmus School of Social and Behavioural Sciences (ESSB), Erasmus School of History, Culture and Communication (ESHCC) and International Institute of Social Studies (ISS).