Technology & power
Who programs the city, and with whose data. Surveillance, algorithms, platforms and the geopolitics that decides where a border gets drawn.
Every city is programmed. It used to be programmed by rules and plans; now also by software, sensors and platforms that decide in real time who passes, who parks, who looks suspicious and which neighbourhood gets investment. The question is no longer whether the city is smart, but for whom.
Here we gather the analyses on urban technology and power: surveillance and its cameras, the algorithms that sort the city, the platforms that take over the street, the smart city and its rankings, artificial intelligence in planning. And urban geopolitics: borders, global cities, colonial legacies and the decisions taken very far from where they are suffered.
- Urban AI
Models reveal hidden essence of cities
Models help understand how cities change through interactions and patterns. Main keyword: cities. Ends with a period.
Michael Batty 3 min read - Urban geopolitics
Neil Brenner. Global urbanization goes beyond city borders
Neil Brenner explores how urbanization extends beyond city boundaries through networks and regional processes. Read…
Neil Brenner 3 min read - Surveillance / data
Urban Fear and City Segregation
A wall separates two streets only a short distance apart. On one side there is surveillance, controlled access and…
3 min read - Urban AI
Cities become more productive through proximity
Proximity enhances productivity in cities by fostering collaboration and idea exchange. Learn how urban…
3 min read - Urban geopolitics
Desarraigo: When the City Escapes Control
A perfectly ordered grid becomes covered by towers, traffic, crowds and programs that nobody seems able to control…
3 min read - Urban AI
Smart cities merge information and physical space
This article explores how digital technologies transform urban environments by integrating information with…
3 min read - Urban geopolitics
Cities as Globalization's Key Nodes
Cities are crucial for globalization as they coordinate dispersed economic activities. Learn why cities remain…
Saskia Sassen 3 min read - Urban geopolitics
China's Urban Transformation and the Role of the State
A crane lifts a tower above land whose value, use and future depend on political decisions. At first sight, the…
3 min read - Urban AI
Algoritmos que deciden tus alquileres en España y Estados Unidos
The renewal letter arrives. The rent goes up by almost ten percent. The tenant calls the landlord and asks why.
4 min read - Urban AI
Who controls the city when software is privately owned?
Hace unos años, el primer ministro de Canadá bajó al puerto de Toronto para anunciar un experimento sin precedentes.
Shoshana Zuboff 3 min read - Urban geopolitics
Global South: Who experiments in our cities globally?
A promotional video shows glass towers rising from the sea, off the coast of Lagos. Clean avenues, blue skies,…
Jennifer Robinson 3 min read - Urban geopolitics
The city is written by speculative funds, not planners
There is a map of your city that nobody debated in a council session. No councillor and no urban planner signed…
David Harvey 4 min read - Urban geopolitics
Michael Peter Smith: Transnationalism and Global Cities
Michael Peter Smith explores how transnationalism reshapes global cities through migration and global connections.
Michael Peter Smith 2 min read - Surveillance / data
Stephen Graham: Militarization and Surveillance in Cities
Stephen Graham explores how militarization and surveillance shape modern cities, impacting security and urban life.
Stephen Graham 3 min read - Urban geopolitics
Robert Jessop: State and Urban Restructuring in Neoliberal Era
Robert Jessop explores how the state reshapes cities under neoliberal capitalism. Main keyword: state and urban…
Robert Jessop 2 min read - Urban geopolitics
David Theo Goldberg Race Space Power
David Theo Goldberg, a South African-American scholar, has conducted extensive work at the intersection of race,…
David Theo Goldberg 2 min read - Urban geopolitics
Global Cities: Role in World Economy
Sassen explores how global cities like New York and London shape the world economy through financial and…
Saskia Sassen 2 min read - Urban geopolitics
Mike Davis: Urbanization, Inequality and Megacities
Mike Davis explores urbanization, inequality, and megacities in the Global South. His work highlights the crisis of…
Mike Davis 2 min read - Urban geopolitics
Edgar Pieterse: Spatial Justice and Sustainable Urban Development
Edgar Pieterse explores spatial justice and sustainable urban development in African cities. His work emphasizes…
Edgar Pieterse 2 min read - Urban AI
Manuel Castells: from neighbourhood struggle to network city
Castells read urban movements as structural responses to power, then showed how information networks reconfigured…
Manuel Castells 3 min read - Urban geopolitics
Amin Ash and Nigel Thrift Reimagining Cities
Amin and Thrift explore how cities should be reimagined in a globalized world. Cities are fluid and complex spaces…
Ash Amin 2 min read - Urban geopolitics
Istanbul Global and Local
This article explores how Istanbul has been shaped by globalization and urbanization, balancing global forces with…
3 min read - Urban geopolitics
Stephen Chiu Hong Kong Global City
Stephen Chiu analyzes Hong Kong's rise as a global city, focusing on its economic, political, and cultural…
2 min read - Urban geopolitics
City Politics: Understanding Urban Power Dynamics
City Politics explores how political power shapes urban governance, focusing on economic development, housing, and…
3 min read - Urban geopolitics
Urban Geography Transformations: Challenges and Opportunities
Urban geography explores challenges and opportunities in city development, focusing on climate change, technology,…
2 min read - Urban geopolitics
Henri Lefebvre: Urban Revolution as Global Process
Henri Lefebvre's 'The Urban Revolution' explores urbanization as a global process that restructures social and…
Henri Lefebvre 3 min read - Urban geopolitics
J. M. Moosa Reassesses African Cities
In African Cities: Alternative Vision of Urban Theory and Practice (2012), J. M.
2 min read - Urban geopolitics
Teresa Caldeira: São Paulo and the Struggle for Equity
Teresa Caldeira examines São Paulo's urban growth, inequality, and violence. A critical look at the city's…
3 min read - Urban geopolitics
Johannesburg: The Elusive Metropolis
This article explores Johannesburg's complex identity as a city of contradictions, modernity and marginality.…
2 min read - Urban geopolitics
Space of Flows and Global Cities
The concept of the “Space of Flows” was developed by sociologist Manuel Castells to describe how global cities are…
Manuel Castells 2 min read - Urban geopolitics
Shanghai as Global City
**“Shanghai: Global City”** by Ying Chang Compestine offers a detailed perspective on Shanghai’s rapid growth and…
2 min read - Urban geopolitics
Urban Transformations in Globalization
The Urban Condition, edited by the Ghent Urban Studies Team and published by 010 Publishers
2 min read - Urban geopolitics
Saskia Sassen: what makes a global city global
New York, London and Tokyo concentrate capital, information and decisions. Saskia Sassen explains what links them…
Saskia Sassen 2 min read - Urban AI
Hybrid Urban Spaces: Physical and Digital Convergence
Hybrid urban spaces blend physical and digital elements, reshaping city experiences. Key to understanding modern…
Manuel Castells 2 min read - Urban geopolitics
Brenda Yeoh Migration Urbanization
Brenda Yeoh explores migration's impact on urbanization in Asian cities, focusing on policy and social dynamics.
Brenda Yeoh 2 min read - Urban geopolitics
Saskia Sassen: Voice of Global Cities
Saskia Sassen, a sociologist born in the Netherlands and based in the United States
Saskia Sassen 3 min read - Urban geopolitics
Urban Governance: Challenges and Opportunities in Contemporary Cities
Urban governance has become a central topic in urban studies, as it encompasses the processes and structures…
Gerry Stoker 2 min read - Urban geopolitics
Exploring the Endless City: Urban Challenges and Opportunities
*The Endless City*, edited by Ricky Burdett and Deyan Sudjic and published by Phaidon
2 min read - Urban geopolitics
Racial Inequality and Spatial Segregation: Unpacking Urban Dynamics
Racial inequality and spatial segregation are deeply interconnected phenomena that structure many cities around the…
Ruth Glass 3 min read - Urban geopolitics
Planetary Urbanization: Redefining Spaces in the Global World
Planetary urbanization is a concept developed by Neil Brenner and Christian Schmid that seeks to expand our…
Neil Brenner 2 min read - Urban geopolitics
Indigenous Peoples' Rights in the Urban Era: Challenges and Resistance
The rights of Indigenous peoples in cities have become an issue of growing interest
2 min read - Urban AI
Platform Urbanism: Transformations and Challenges in Modern Cities
Platform urbanism has emerged as a new trend in the organization and transformation of modern cities.
Nick Srnicek 3 min read - Urban geopolitics
Production of Space in the Global South: Urban Challenges and Opportunities
The **production of space in the Global South** has become a topic of growing interest among urban planners and…
Jennifer Robinson 3 min read - Urban geopolitics
Forced Displacement in the Global South: A Growing Crisis
Forced displacement in cities of the Global South is a growing phenomenon driven by various factors, including…
Mike Davis 3 min read - Urban AI
Transforming Cities: Technopolitics and Urban Governance
Technopolitics and urban governance are two concepts that are becoming increasingly interconnected
Rob Kitchin 2 min read - Surveillance / data
Urban Security Transformation Through Technology
La tecnología está transformando profundamente la seguridad urbana mediante herramientas como cámaras de vigilancia
Stephen Graham 1 min read - Urban geopolitics
Socio-Spatial Segregation: A Call for Equity!
Socio-spatial segregation refers to the way socioeconomic inequalities in cities translate into physical and social…
Saskia Sassen 2 min read - Urban geopolitics
Urbanization in the Global South: Challenges and Opportunities
Urbanization in the Global South has followed patterns that differ from those observed in more developed countries
AbdouMaliq Simone 3 min read - Urban geopolitics
City of Walls: Segregation and Violence in São Paulo
In City of Walls: Crime, Segregation, and Citizenship in São Paulo, Teresa Caldeira examines the dynamics of urban…
2 min read - Urban AI
Automation and Urban Inequality: Challenges and Opportunities
Automation is profoundly transforming cities by introducing advanced technologies that change how services are…
Nick Srnicek 1 min read - Urban geopolitics
La Ciudad Fragmentada: Fernando Carrión y los Desafíos Urbanos en América Latina
Fernando Carrión, a prominent Ecuadorian urbanist, addresses in his work La Ciudad Fragmentada the issues related…
Fernando Carrión 2 min read - Urban AI
The Right to the Smart City: Who Benefits from Digital Cities?
The book The Right to the Smart City (2019), by Paolo Cardullo, Cesare Di Feliciantonio, and Rob Kitchin
Henri Lefebvre 2 min read - Surveillance / data
Urban Militarization Challenges: Surveillance and Control in Modern Cities
The militarization of urban space is a phenomenon that has gained prominence in recent decades, reflecting the…
Stephen Graham 2 min read - Urban geopolitics
Jennifer Robinson and Ordinary Cities: Challenging Urban Theories
Jennifer Robinson, in her work Ordinary Cities: Between Modernity and Development
Jennifer Robinson 2 min read - Urban geopolitics
Global Cities: The Hidden Power in the World Economy According to Saskia Sassen
Cities in a World Economy (1991) by Saskia Sassen is a fundamental work for understanding globalization and the…
Saskia Sassen 2 min read - Urban AI
Industry 4.0 Transforming Cities and Urban Mobility Toward a Smart Future
Industry 4. 0 is profoundly transforming our cities, affecting both their development and urban mobility.
2 min read
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Shorts
Singapore. The Perfect City… That’s Also Watching You
The Nordic myth of security
Your city isn’t actually a city
Geopolitical cities. War start when water, power, and housing fail
Chinese urbanization: three decades of rapid and contradictory change
Urbanismo AI: Your Phone Already Knows Where You’ll Go… And So Does the City
Platform city. Apps que dominan tu ciudad
Ethics of autonomy. Cities are starting to decide who lives on the street
The surveillance capitalism revolution
Governments already build cities in computers before doing it in reality
Data streets. That pop-up plaza isn't decoration
Smart utopia hides a disturbing project in the name of efficiency
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