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Science Geography

Digital (In)justice in the Smart City

edited by Debra Mackinnon, Ryan Burns & Victoria Fast

Publisher
University of Toronto Press
Initial publish date
Feb 2023
Category
Geography, Urban & Land Use Planning, General
  • Paperback / softback

    ISBN
    9781487527167
    Publish Date
    Feb 2023
    List Price
    $49.95
  • Hardback

    ISBN
    9781487527150
    Publish Date
    Feb 2023
    List Price
    $110.00
  • eBook

    ISBN
    9781487527181
    Publish Date
    Dec 2022
    List Price
    $49.95

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Description

In the contemporary moment, smart cities have become the dominant paradigm for urban planning and administration, which involves weaving the urban fabric with digital technologies. Recently, however, the promises of smart cities have been gradually supplanted by recognition of their inherent inequalities, and scholars are increasingly working to envision alternative smart cities.

 

Informed by these pressing challenges, Digital (In)Justice in the Smart City foregrounds discussions of how we should think of and work towards urban digital justice in the smart city. It provides a deep exploration of the sources of injustice that percolate throughout a range of sociotechnical assemblages, and it questions whether working towards more just, sustainable, liveable, and egalitarian cities requires that we look beyond the limitations of "smartness" altogether. The book grapples with how geographies impact smart city visions and roll-outs, on the one hand, and how (unjust) geographies are produced in smart pursuits, on the other. Ultimately, Digital (In)Justice in the Smart City envisions alternative cities – smart or merely digital – and outlines the sorts of roles that the commons, utopia, and the law might take on in our conceptions and realizations of better cities.

About the authors

Debra Mackinnon is an assistant professor in the Interdisciplinary Studies Department at Lakehead University.

Debra Mackinnon's profile page

Ryan Burns is an assistant professor in the Department of Geography at the University of Calgary.

Ryan Burns' profile page

Victoria Fast is an associate professor in the Department of Geography at the University of Calgary.

Victoria Fast's profile page