Data-Driven Participation: Algorithms, Cities, Citizens, and Corporate Control

Matthew Tenney and Renee Sieber
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Matthew Tenney: Department of Geography, McGill University, Montreal, Canada
Renee Sieber: Department of Geography, McGill University, Montreal, Canada

Urban Planning, 2016, vol. 1, issue 2, 101-113

Abstract: In this paper, we critically explore the interplay of algorithms and civic participation in visions of a city governed by equation, sensor and tweet. We begin by discussing the rhetoric surrounding techno-enabled paths to participatory democracy. This leads to us interrogating how the city is impacted by a discourse that promises to harness social/human capital through data science. We move to a praxis level and examine the motivations of local planners to adopt and increasingly automate forms of VGI as a form of citizen engagement. We ground theory and praxis with a report on the uneven impacts of algorithmic civic participation underway in the Canadian city of Toronto.

Keywords: big data; civic engagement; data-driven; local government; participation; smart city; urban planning; VGI; volunteered geographic information (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:cog:urbpla:v1:y:2016:i:2:p:101-113

DOI: 10.17645/up.v1i2.645

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