Geographies of smart urban experimentation: Promises, perils and pitfalls

Sponsored by: Digital Geographies Research Group (DGRG)

Session convenors: Adam Michael Packer (University of Oxford) and Jennie Day (Newcastle University)

Deadline for Abstracts: Monday 10th February, 2020

Cities are increasingly being used as sites to test, trial and demonstrate technologies that claim to remedy, ameliorate and eventually solve long standing urban problems. These experiments are often packaged by policymakers and corporate actors alongside concepts like ‘living labs’ and ‘urban labs’ or as part of efforts to ‘become’ a smart city. As a result, practices of experimentation are expanding into urban realms including transport and mobility, governance interfaces, resource allocation and decision-making processes. Recent notable examples of this include Uber’s testing of driverless vehicles in Tempe, Arizona which has raised concerns about safety, accountability and the politics of innovation. In light of these developments, it is important to reconsider how experimental practices manifest in a variety of contexts. Building on notable contributions, such as Bulkeley and Castan Broto (2013), Evans (2016) and Kullman (2013), this session will interrogate the underlying rationales, logics and implications of experimental activities.

We invite empirical, theoretical and conceptual papers on topics including, but by no means limited to:

types of experiments being conducted in urban environments

comparative studies of experiments in cities with different political dynamics

institutional learning between actors involved in urban experiments

public awareness of, or participation in, urban experiments

the organisation of alternative or grassroots experimental practices

novel methodological approaches to examining smart urban experimentation

uneven spatial geographies produced by and through urban experimentation

rhetorics and realities of smart urban experimentation

References:

Bulkeley, H. and Castan Broto, V. C. (2013). Government by experiment? Global cities and the governing of climate change. Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers, 38, p.361–375.

Evans, J. (2016). Trials and Tribulations: Problematising the City through/as Urban Experimentation. Geography Compass, 10(10) p.429-443.

Kullman, K. (2013). Geographies of Experiment/Experimental Geographies: A Rough Guide. Geography Compass, 7(12) p.879-894.

Please email prospective abstracts of no more than 250 words to Adam Michael Packer (adam.packer@ouce.ox.ac.uk) and Jennie Day (j.day3@newcastle.ac.uk) by Monday 10th February, 2020. We particularly welcome submissions from scholars from a range of institutions, disciplines and career stages.

Please also let us know if there are any special audio-visual or mobility requirements (a laptop, data projector, screen and audio speakers are provided).

We look forward to receiving your abstracts - and please don’t hesitate to contact us if you have any questions.