The Rise of AI Urbanism in Post-Smart Cities: A Critical Commentary on Urban Artificial Intelligence

Cugurullo, Federico; Caprotti, Federico; Cook, Matthew; Karvonen, Andrew; McGuirk, Pauline and Marvin, Simon (2024). The Rise of AI Urbanism in Post-Smart Cities: A Critical Commentary on Urban Artificial Intelligence. Urban Studies, 61(6) pp. 1168–1182.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/00420980231203386

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 on the development of cities, arguing 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 this post-smart urbanism 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.

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