Tech in the City: Charting a New Epistemological Course for Urban Datafication
Topics: Digital Geographies
,
,
Keywords: epistemology, big data, datafication, smart city, urban innovation, metaphor, case study, topic modelling, critical epistemic discourse analysis
Session Type: Virtual Paper Abstract
Day: Tuesday
Session Start / End Time: 3/1/2022 09:40 AM (Eastern Time (US & Canada)) - 3/1/2022 11:00 AM (Eastern Time (US & Canada))
Room: Virtual 62
Authors:
Mira Pijselman, University of Oxford
,
,
,
,
,
,
,
,
,
Abstract
By 2030, 60% of the global population will live in cities. As urban density increases, cities have emerged as key contributors to climate change and growing social and economic inequalities. Smart cities, initiatives that leverage big data to augment urban governance, have become attractive options for governments seeking to improve the quality of urban life. However, smart cities raise epistemological concerns, as their design privileges a specific way of knowing (datafication) and specific types of knowledge (big data).
Drawing from critical data studies, epistemology, and digital geography, this research considers the epistemological foundation of urban datafication. Specifically, I consider the discursive construction of the epistemology of datafication in the project discourse of Quayside, a failed smart city initiative in Toronto developed by Sidewalk Labs (Alphabet) and Waterfront Toronto between 2017 and 2020. Using topic modeling and critical epistemic discourse analysis in a sequential design, I argue that the project discourse presents a realist epistemology of datafication, wherein it is assumed that data can be neutrally gathered to uncover objective truths about reality. I go onto stress that this realist epistemology is relied upon in the project discourse through various discursive tactics to justify the neoliberal encroachment of Sidewalk Labs into Toronto’s public realm. Finally, building upon these findings, I propose a novel epistemological framing of datafication as metaphor. This reframing reflects the creativity inherent to the smart city imaginary, appropriately positions urban big data as sociotechnical artefacts, and depicts datafication as a co-conformance of knowledge between technology and the public.
Tech in the City: Charting a New Epistemological Course for Urban Datafication
Category
Virtual Paper Abstract
Description
This abstract is part of a session. Click here to view the session.
| Slides