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Cited by 518Smart Cities and TechnologiesEthics and Social Impacts of AIUrban Planning and Governance

The ethics of smart cities and urban science

Open access
Kitchin, Rob·2016·Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences
DOI 10.1098/rsta.2016.0115PMC PMC5124065
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Abstract

Software-enabled technologies and urban big data have become essential to the functioning of cities. Consequently, urban operational governance and city services are becoming highly responsive to a form of data-driven urbanism that is the key mode of production for smart cities. At the heart of data-driven urbanism is a computational understanding of city systems that reduces urban life to logic and calculative rules and procedures, which is underpinned by an instrumental rationality and realist epistemology. This rationality and epistemology are informed by and sustains urban science and urban informatics, which seek to make cities more knowable and controllable. This paper examines the forms, practices and ethics of smart cities and urban science, paying particular attention to: instrumental rationality and realist epistemology; privacy, datafication, dataveillance and geosurveillance; and data uses, such as social sorting and anticipatory governance. It argues that smart city initiatives and urban science need to be re-cast in three ways: a re-orientation in how cities are conceived; a reconfiguring of the underlying epistemology to openly recognize the contingent and relational nature of urban systems, processes and science; and the adoption of ethical principles designed to realize benefits of smart cities and urban science while reducing pernicious effects. This article is part of the themed issue ‘The ethical impact of data science’.

AI snapshot

Written from the paper’s full text.

TL;DR

Kitchin argues that smart cities and urban science are underpinned by an instrumental rationality and realist epistemology that treats cities as knowable, controllable systems, generating ethical risks around privacy, dataveillance/geosurveillance, social sorting, and anticipatory governance. He calls for recasting cities as complex and relational, reconfiguring urban science’s epistemology, and adopting ethical principles to realize benefits while reducing pernicious effects.

Key findings

  • Data-driven urbanism reduces urban life to calculative rules and procedures, while urban science/informatics sustain a computational understanding of cities that seeks to make them more knowable and controllable.
  • Ethical concerns include intensified datafication and geosurveillance; predictive privacy harms from inferencing; re-identification of anonymized/pseudonymous data; obfuscation and reduced control; and notice/consent that is often empty or absent. Data uses such as social sorting and anticipatory governance can profile people and places, with predictive policing designating some as “precriminals.”
  • The paper cites examples and figures: Rio’s operations centre is staffed by 400 professional workers and draws real-time data from 30 agencies; London’s Renew sensors on 200 bins captured identifiers from over four million devices in a single week in 2014; the UK has an estimated 8,300 ANPR cameras capturing 30 million number plates each day; New York and Chicago each have over 24,000 cameras; 25 of 50 iPhone apps and 21 of 50 Android apps transmitted location data to a third party; between a quarter and a third of smartphone apps lack a privacy policy; in 2014, 212 US data brokers were identified, only 92 allowed opt-outs, and of 58 mobile location tracking companies only 11 offered opt-outs; knowing the sexual orientation of just 20% of social media users can enable inference of all other users with high accuracy.
  • Kitchin proposes three recasting moves: reorient how cities are conceived (fluid, open, complex, contingent, relational; complement analytics with phronesis and metis); reconfigure epistemology (data are never raw; analytics are socio-technical and political); and adopt ethical principles (notice/consent, transparency, duty of care, professional standards, city contracting and privacy impact assessments).

Methods

  • Conceptual/ethical review and argument, not an empirical study; no dataset or sample is used.
  • The paper examines the forms, practices, and ethics of smart cities and urban science, focusing on instrumental rationality and realist epistemology, privacy/datafication/dataveillance/geosurveillance, and data uses such as social sorting and anticipatory governance.
  • The main analysis is a critical synthesis of literature and illustrative examples, culminating in three proposed dimensions for recasting smart cities and urban science.

Limitations

  • The paper states no formal limitations section; it acknowledges that what constitutes harm is often difficult to define and that a sharing/gifting ethical model is currently a long way from being enacted.
  • Evident from the text: it is a conceptual argument without empirical testing or systematic review, its examples are illustrative and drawn largely from UK/US/Rio contexts, and its proposed ethical remedies are not operationalized or evaluated.

Model-written summary. Check it against the paper before relying on it.

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1098/rsta.2016.0115

Cites

65 of 65 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Nothing to recompute.

Claims the paper makes

0 of 76 cited sources checked · 0 supported · 0 flagged

  • Premisereasoning

    Analysis and interpretation of CCTV footage is increasingly aided by facial, gait and ANPR using machine vision algorithms.

    “Analysis and interpretation of CCTV footage is increasingly aided by facial, gait and ANPR using machine vision algorithms.”
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  • Interpretationreasoning

    City systems and infrastructures are becoming more tightly interlinked and integrated as a consequence of data-driven urbanism.

    “Indeed, one of the consequences of data-driven urbanism is that city systems and infrastructures are becoming much more tightly interlinked and integrated.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim
  • Interpretationreasoning

    Companies and agencies running these technologies possess a vast quantity of highly detailed spatial behaviour data from which many other insights can be inferred, such as mode of travel, activity and lifestyle.

    “As these examples demonstrate, those companies and agencies who run these technologies possess a vast quantity of highly detailed spatial behaviour data from which lots of other insights can be inferred (such as mode of travel, activity and lifestyle).”
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  • Premisecitation

    Datafication has intensified, radically expanding the volume, range and granularity of data generated about people and places.

    “In other words, there has been a marked intensification of what has been termed 'dataficiation' [5]; that is, a radical expansion in the volume, range and granularity of the data being generated about people and places [4,6].”
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  • Interpretationreasoning

    A new form of highly responsive urban governance is emerging in which big data systems prefigure and set the urban agenda and influence and control how city systems respond and perform.

    “The result is a new form of highly responsive urban governance in which big data systems are prefiguring and setting the urban agenda and are influencing and controlling how city systems respond and perform.”
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    Interpretationreasoning

    Urban operational governance and city services are becoming highly responsive to data-driven urbanism, which is the key mode of production for smart cities.

    “Consequently, urban operational governance and city services are becoming highly responsive to a form of data-driven urbanism that is the key mode of production for smart cities.”
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    Interpretationreasoning

    Such approaches promote an instrumental rationality underpinning the notion that cities can be steered and managed through data levers and analytics and that urban issues can be solved through technical solutions.

    “As such, they promote an instrumental rationality that underpins the notion that cities can be steered and managed through a set of data levers and analytics and that urban issues can be solved through a range of technical solutions [8,23,24].”
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    Premisenone given

    Smartphones continuously communicate their location to telecommunications providers through cell masts, GPS coordinates or wifi hotspot connections, and apps can share this information with third parties.

    “Smartphones continuously communicate their location to telecommunications providers, either through the cell masts they connect to, or by sending of GPS coordinates, or their connections to wifi hotspots.”
    • Also stated in: § (i) Datafication, dataveillance and geosurveillance · plain
      “Likewise, smartphone apps can access and transfer such information and also share them to third parties.”
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    Premisecitation

    Privacy debates generally concern acceptable practices for accessing and disclosing personal and sensitive information about a person.

    “In general terms, privacy debates concern acceptable practices with regards to accessing and disclosing personal and sensitive information about a person [34].”
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    Premisecitation

    Urban science/informatics offers potential for urban knowledge with greater breadth, depth, scale and timeliness, and is inherently longitudinal, in contrast to traditional urban studies.

    “Urban science/informatics, it is posited, offers the potential for urban knowledge that has greater breadth, depth, scale and timeliness, and is inherently longitudinal, in contrast with that derived from longer standing, more traditional urban studies [3,15].”
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    Interpretationreasoning

    There is a strong recursive relationship between data-driven urbanism and urban science/informatics, with the former providing raw material and applied domain and the latter providing fundamental ideas and tools.

    “Indeed, there is a strong recursive relationship between data-driven urbanism and urban science/informatics, with the former providing the raw material and applied domain and the latter providing fundamental ideas and the key tools to enact city analytics and datadriven decision-making.”
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    Premisenone given

    These data can be accessed by police and security forces through warrants or more surreptitiously, and shared with third party partners for commercial or governance purposes.

    “Moreover, these data can be accessed by the police and security forces through warrants or more surreptitiously, and can be shared with third party partners for commercial or governance purposes.”
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    Interpretationreasoning

    Consequently, they fail to recognize that cities are complex, multifaceted, contingent, relational systems full of contestation and wicked problems not easily captured or steered, and that urban issues are often best solved through political/social solutions and citizen-centred deliberative democracy rather than technocratic governance.

    “Consequently, they fail to recognize that cities are complex, multifaceted, contingent, relational systems, full of contestation and wicked problems that are not easily captured or steered, and that urban issues are often best solved through political/social solutions and citizen-centred deliberative democracy, rather than technocratic forms of governance [8,28].”
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    How privacy is understood as an everyday and legal concept varies between cultures and contexts.

    “How privacy is understood both as an everyday and legal concept, however, varies between cultures and contexts.”
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    Premisecitation

    Sensitive information relates to several personal facets and domains, creating inter-related privacy forms: identity, bodily, territorial, locational and movement, communications, and transactions privacy.

    “Such sensitive information can relate to a number of a personal facets and domains creating a number of inter-related privacy forms including [35,36]:”
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    Interpretationcitation

    Data-informed urbanism is increasingly being complemented and replaced by data-driven urbanism, changing how cities are known, planned and governed.

    “The consequence of the emerging data deluge is that data-informed urbanism is increasingly being complemented and replaced by data-driven urbanism (the mode of production of smart cities) and this is changing how we know, plan and govern cities”
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    Premisecitation

    These forms of privacy can be threatened and breached through practices normally understood as unacceptable, each producing a different form of harm.

    “As Solove [37] details, these forms of privacy can be threatened and breached through a number of what are normally understood as unacceptable practices, each of which produces a different form of harm (table 1).”
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    Premisenone given

    These approaches adopt a realist epistemology supposing an external reality independent of an observer that can be objectively measured, tracked, statistically analysed, modelled and visualized to reveal the world as it actually is.

    “These approaches adopt a realist epistemology that supposes the existence of an external reality which operates independently of an observer and which can be objectively and accurately measured, tracked, statistically analysed, modelled and visualized to reveal the world as it actually is.”
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    Interpretationcitation

    Smart city technologies, data-driven urbanism and urban science create a number of potential privacy harms for five reasons, each raising challenges to existing privacy protection approaches.

    “Smart city technologies, data-driven urbanism and urban science create a number of potential privacy harms for five reasons, each of which also raises significant challenges to existing approaches to protecting privacy (privacy laws and fair information practice principles).”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim
    • Rests on an assumption: Privacy is a basic human right in many jurisdictions and is enshrined in national and supra-national laws.

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    Premisecitation

    In 2011, the Wall Street Journal reported that 25 of 50 iPhone apps and 21 of 50 Android apps transmitted location data to a third party other than the app developer.

    “With respect to the latter, the Wall Street Journal in 2011 [49] details that 25 out 50 iPhone apps, and 21 of 50 Android apps transmitted location data to a third party other than the app developer [50].”
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    Premisereasoning

    Both inductive empiricism and data-driven science are evident in urban science/informatics, with a preference for the latter.

    “Both approaches are evident in urban science/informatics, with a preference on the latter.”
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    Premisecitation

    Urban data are understood as unproblematically abstracted from the world in neutral, value-free and objective ways, and as essential in nature, fully representative of what is measured.

    “In other words, urban data can be unproblematically abstracted from the world in neutral, value-free and objective ways and are understood to be essential in nature; that is, fully representative of that which is being measured (they faithfully capture its essence and are independent of the measuring process) [22].”
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    Interpretationreasoning

    This instrumental rationality and realist epistemology inform and sustain urban science and urban informatics, which aim to make cities more knowable and controllable.

    “This rationality and epistemology are informed by and sustains urban science and urban informatics, which seek to make cities more knowable and controllable.”
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    Premisecitation

    Inductive empiricism holds that through data analytics urban big data can speak for themselves free of theory or human bias or framing.

    “The first is a form of inductive empiricism in which it is argued that through data analytics urban big data can speak for themselves free of theory or human bias or framing.”
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    Premisenone given

    Software-enabled technologies and urban big data are essential to how cities function.

    “Software-enabled technologies and urban big data have become essential to the functioning of cities.”
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  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S4 (based).

    Interpretationnone given

    Data-driven urbanism rests on a computational understanding of city systems that reduces urban life to logic and calculative rules and procedures, underpinned by instrumental rationality and realist epistemology.

    “At the heart of data-driven urbanism is a computational understanding of city systems that reduces urban life to logic and calculative rules and procedures, which is underpinned by an instrumental rationality and realist epistemology.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim

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    Premisecitation

    In London, Renew installed sensors on 200 bins, capturing in a single week in 2014 identifiers from over four million devices and tracking them as they moved from bin to bin.

    “In London, Renew installed such sensors on 200 bins, capturing in a single week in 2014 identifiers from over four million devices and tracking these as they moved from bin to bin [46].”
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    Interpretationreasoning

    The result is a deepening of dataveillance and, in the smart city, geosurveillance.

    “The result is the deepening of dataveillance and, in the case of the smart city, geosurveillance.”
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    Premisecitation

    There are an estimated 8300 ANPR cameras across the UK capturing 30 million number plates each day.

    “There are an estimated 8300 ANPR cameras across the UK capturing 30 million number plates each day [45].”
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    Interpretationreasoning

    A range of smart technologies has transformed geo-location tracking so that monitoring location is pervasive, continuous, automatic and relatively cheap, and travel profiles and histories are relatively easy to construct.

    “A range of smart technologies has transformed geo-location tracking to a situation where the monitoring of location is pervasive, continuous, automatic and relatively cheap and it is relatively easy to construct travel profiles and histories.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim

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    Premisenone given

    Many cities are saturated with remote controllable digital CCTV cameras that can zoom, move and track individual pedestrians, and large parts of the road network and vehicle movement are surveyed by traffic, red-light, congestion and toll cameras.

    “For example, many cities are saturated with remote controllable digital CCTV cameras that can zoom, move and track individual pedestrians.”
    • Also stated in: § (i) Datafication, dataveillance and geosurveillance · plain
      “In addition, large parts of the road network and the movement of vehicles are surveyed by traffic, red-light, congestion and toll cameras.”
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    Premisecitation

    Several UK police forces have rolled out CCTV facial recognition programmes, as have US cities including New York and Chicago, each with over 24,000 cameras.

    “Several police forces in cities in the UK have rolled out CCTV facial recognition programmes [42,43], as have cities in the USA, including New York and Chicago (each with over 24 000 cameras) [44].”
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    Premisecitation

    Current urban science draws on positivistic ideas, notably social physics, which seeks to identify social determinants and 'laws' of cities while largely ignoring the longer canon and critique.

    “While current urban science undoubtedly draws on positivistic ideas, notably that emanating within social physics which seeks to identify the social determinates and 'laws' of cities while largely ignoring the longer canon and critique [30,31]”
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    Premisecitation

    Big data differ fundamentally from traditional small datasets: they are generated and processed in real time, exhaustive in scope, and have fine resolution.

    “Big data have fundamentally different properties to traditional 'small' datasets, being generated and processed in real time, exhaustive in scope and having fine resolution [1].”
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    Premisecitation

    Data-driven science seeks to hold to the scientific method but generate hypotheses and insights 'born from the data' rather than 'born from the theory'.

    “The second is data-driven science that seeks to hold to the tenets of the scientific method, but seeks to generate hypotheses and insights 'born from the data' rather than 'born from the theory' [33, p. 613].”
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    Premisecitation

    In 2014, Angwin found 212 data brokers in the USA that consolidated and traded personal data, and only 92 of them permitted opt-outs.

    “In 2014, Angwin [70] identified 212 data brokers operating in the USA that consolidated and traded data about people, only 92 of which allowed opt-outs”
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    Interpretationreasoning

    Individuals are no longer lost in the crowd but are tracked and traced at different spatial and temporal resolutions and are increasingly open to geo-targeted profiling and social sorting.

    “The consequence is that individuals are no longer lost in the crowd, but rather they are being tracked and traced at different scales of spatial and temporal resolution, and are increasingly becoming open to geo-targeted profiling and social sorting.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim

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    Interpretationcitation

    Such practices are now widespread, enabling data brokers to grow rapidly by capturing, combining and repackaging data into private infrastructures for rent or resale, along with analysis and profiles.

    “Such data practices are now common, enabling the rapid growth of data brokers which capture, gather together and repackage data into privately held data infrastructures for rent (for one time use or use under licensing conditions) or re-sale, along with data analysis and profiles [1,69].”
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    Interpretationcitation

    Predictive modelling using urban big data can generate inferences about an individual that are not directly encoded in a database but constitute PII and produce predictive privacy harms.

    “Predictive modelling using urban big data can generate inferences about an individual that are not directly encoded in a database but constitute what many would consider to be PII and which produce 'predictive privacy harms' [6,51].”
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    Interpretationcitation

    For some smart city surveillance, there is no opt-out except avoiding the area, which is unreasonable and unrealistic.

    “Moreover, there is no ability to opt out [64] other than to avoid the area, which is unreasonable and unrealistic.”
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    Interpretationcitation

    It can be very difficult to know precisely the life of data and how they are used and transformed into new derived data, and to understand the tangled roles and obligations between actors and where responsibilities and liabilities reside.

    “The result is that it can be very difficult to know precisely the life of data and how they are used and transformed into new derived data [59].”
    • Also stated in: § (iv) Obfuscation and reduced control · plain
      “Nor is it easy to understand the tangled set of roles (as data processors and controllers) and obligations between actors and where responsibilities and liabilities reside [51].”
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    Interpretationreasoning

    These profiles can be used to socially sort and redline populations, giving preferential status to some categories while marginalizing and excluding others.

    “These profiles can be used to socially sort and redline populations, selecting out certain categories to receive a preferential status and marginalizing and excluding others.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S4 (based).

    Interpretationreasoning

    Nevertheless, the research can affect those who are unwittingly participating by feeding back into services.

    “Nonetheless, the research being undertaken can have effects on those who are unwittingly participating by feeding back into services.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim

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    Interpretationcitation

    People find it excessively burdensome to monitor their privacy across numerous entities, evaluate costs and benefits without knowing future data uses, and judge the combined effects of merging their data with other datasets.

    “Given the volume and diversity of these interactions, it is simply too onerous for individuals to police their privacy across dozens of entities, to weigh up the costs and benefits of agreeing to terms and conditions without knowing how the data might be used now and in the future, and to assess the cumulative and holistic effects of their data being merged with other datasets [60].”
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    • Rests on an assumption: Individuals interact with many smart city technologies daily, each generating data about them.

  • Classified as probably not a substantial claim.

    Premisecitation

    Because no data about sexuality has been directly collected, entities making such inferences have no obligation under current privacy regimes to give notice or gather consent in the same way direct collection protocols require.

    “Yet, as no data about sexuality has been directly collected, any entity making such inferences has 'no obligation under current privacy regimes to give notice to, or gather consent from its customers in the same way that direct collection protocols require' [6, p. 98].”
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    Premisecitation

    Data are passed between synergistic and interoperable devices, platforms, services, applications and analytics engines and shared with third parties, and can be leaked, intercepted, transmitted, disclosed, dis/assembled across data streams, and repurposed in ways difficult to track and untangle.

    “Data are thus passed between synergistic and interoperable 'devices, platforms, services, applications and analytics engines' [50] and shared with third parties.”
    • Also stated in: § (iv) Obfuscation and reduced control · plain
      “Moreover, across this maze-like assemblage they can be 'leaked, intercepted, transmitted, disclosed, dis/assembled across data streams, and repurposed' in ways that are difficult to track and untangle [50].”
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    Interpretationreasoning

    These effects can be positive or negative, but both raise many questions about privacy and privacy harms.

    “These impacts can be both positive and negative, but in both cases raise numerous questions about privacy and privacy harms.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim

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    Interpretationcitation

    Some studies disregard ethical procedures entirely, arguing that public-domain data such as social media or dating profiles may be analysed freely, or that they may experiment on their own systems without user consent.

    “In other cases, studies can ignore ethical procedures altogether arguing that data in the public domain (e.g.social media data or dating site profiles) are open to carte blanche analysis [65] or that they are entitled to experiment on their own systems without user consent [66].”
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    Interpretationreasoning

    Such broad disclaimers and unilateral change rights effectively strip individuals of choice, control, and the ability to hold service providers accountable.

    “effectively disenfranchising individuals of choice, control and the accountability of service providers.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing). May combine two claims.

    Interpretationnone given

    Trading data and data services is a multi-billion dollar industry with a diverse ecosystem of data brokers, from very large consolidators to specialist firms focused on particular markets or services.

    “Trading data and data services is a multi-billion dollar industry consisting of a diverse ecosystem of different types of data brokers ranging from very large consolidators to a range of specialist companies focused on particular markets or services.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim

  • May combine two claims.

    Premisecitation

    Pseudonyms use a persistent, distinguishable code that can be tracked over time and space and used to create detailed individual profiles, and in effect constitute PII.

    “However, the code is persistent and distinguishable from others and recognizable on an on-going basis, meaning it can be tracked over time and space and used to create detailed individual profiles [51].”
    • Also stated in: § (iii) Anonymization and re-identification · plain
      “As such, it is no different from other persistent pseudonym identifiers, such as social security numbers, and in effect constitutes PII [54].”
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    Interpretationreasoning

    Some smart city technologies offer little means to obtain notice and consent, and individuals also have little choice about being surveilled.

    “In the case of some smart city technologies, there is little mechanism to seek notice and consent, but also little choice in being surveilled.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim

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    Premisecitation

    In 2014, Angwin found 58 mobile location tracking companies, and only 11 of them offered opt-outs.

    “and 58 companies that were in the mobile location tracking business, only 11 of which offered opt-outs.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites [70]

      Not checked in the free run.

  • May combine two claims.

    Premisenone given

    Tracking data revealing that a person regularly frequents gay bars can lead to the inference that the person is likely gay, which many would consider personal and sensitive data.

    “For example, tracking data that reveal a person regularly frequents gay bars, leading to the inference that the person is likely to be gay, would be considered by many as personal and sensitive data.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim

  • May combine two claims.

    Premisecitation

    The emerging big data landscape is complex and fragmented, with smart city technologies composed of multiple interacting systems run by corporate and state actors.

    “The emerging big data landscape is complex and fragmented.”
    • Also stated in: § (iv) Obfuscation and reduced control · plain
      “Various smart city technologies are composed of multiple interacting systems run by a number of corporate and state actors rsta.royalsocietypublishing.org Phil.Trans.R. Soc.A 374: [51,54,60].”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim0 of 3 sources checked
    • cites [51]

      Not checked in the free run.

    • cites [54]

      Not checked in the free run.

    • cites [60]

      Not checked in the free run.

  • May combine two claims.

    Interpretationcitation

    CCTV, ANPR and MAC address tracking occur without any attempt at consent and often with minimal notification.

    “For example, CCTV, ANPR and MAC address tracking all take place with no attempt at consent and often with little notification.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S4 (based).

    Interpretationnone given

    Urban science and informatics provide novel and useful insights into cities, their citizens and systems.

    “Similarly, urban science and informatics do provide novel and useful insights into cities, their citizens and systems.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S2 (checkable).

    Interpretationnone given

    There are clearly several ethical issues arising from the creation and deployment of smart city technologies and accompanying urban science and informatics.

    “There are clearly a number of ethical issues that arise from the creation and deployment of smart city technologies and accompanying urban science and informatics.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S2 (checkable). May combine two claims.

    Interpretationreasoning

    Reducing this complexity into models and using the outcomes to drive urban management produces a reductionist and limiting understanding of cities and overly technocratic governance.

    “Reducing this complexity into models and then using the outcomes to drive urban management produces a reductionist and limiting understanding of cities and overly technocratic forms of governance.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim

  • May combine two claims.

    Interpretationcitation

    Urban science does not reflect the world as it actually is; it actively frames and produces the world.

    “As such, urban science needs to openly acknowledge its contingencies, shortcomings and inherent politics and to recognize that it does not reflect the world as it actually is, but rather actively frames and produces the world [8].”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites [8]

      Not checked in the free run.

  • Classified as probably not a substantial claim.

    Interpretationreasoning

    Smart city technologies do provide many benefits to city managers and citizens.

    “Rather than throw the baby out with the bath water, it needs to be recognized that smart city technologies do provide many benefits to city managers and citizens.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing), S4 (based).

    Interpretationnone given

    Intelligent transport systems make traffic flow more efficiently around a city.

    “Technologies such as intelligent transport systems do make traffic flow more efficiently around a city”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S4 (based).

    Interpretationnone given

    Notice and consent are all but impossible in many cases of smart city technology rollout.

    “City managers need to consider the potential pernicious effects of the rollout of smart city technologies and that notice and consent are all but impossible in many cases and take a pro-active role in brokering privacy and security arrangements on behalf of citizens through its contracting procedures and parameters.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim

  • May combine two claims.

    Premisecitation

    The Chicago police force produces both general area profiling to identify hotspots and guide patrols, and more specific profiling that identifies individuals within those hotspots.

    “For example, the Chicago police force produces both general area profiling to identify hotspots and guide patrols, and more specific profiling that identifies individuals within those hotspots [73].”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites [73]

      Not checked in the free run.

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing).

    Interpretationcitation

    Concerns have arisen that a form of 'data determinism' is being deployed, in which people are judged not only by what they have done but by predictions of what they might do.

    “This has led to concerns that a form of 'data determinism' is being deployed in which individuals are not simply profiled and judged on the basis of what they have done, but on a prediction of what they might do in the future [72].”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites [72]

      Not checked in the free run.

  • May combine two claims.

    Premisecitation

    The Chicago police force uses arrest records, phone records, social media and other data to build social networks of arrested people, identify who in those networks is most likely to commit a future crime, label them 'precriminals', and visit them to say they have been flagged as a potential threat.

    “It achieves the latter using arrest records, phone records, social media and other data to construct the social networks of those arrested to identify who in their network is most likely to commit a crime in the future, designating them 'precriminals' and visiting them to let them know that they have been flagged in their system as a potential threat [73].”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites [73]

      Not checked in the free run.

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing), S4 (based).

    Interpretationnone given

    Smartphone apps provide useful services to their users.

    “and smart phone apps do provide useful services to their users.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim
62 of 62

  • The paper relies on this without support.

    Privacy is a basic human right in many jurisdictions and is enshrined in national and supra-national laws.

    “Privacy-to selectively reveal oneself to the world-is considered a basic human right in many jurisdictions (particularly democratic states), enshrined in national and supra-national laws in various ways.”

  • The paper relies on this without support.

    Notice and consent are treated as a foundational element of data and privacy protection.

    “Notice and consent-considered the cornerstone of data and privacy protection-are significantly weakened within smart city technologies and in data/urban science becoming an empty exercise or being entirely absent.”

  • The paper relies on this without support.

    Individuals interact with many smart city technologies daily, each generating data about them.

    “Individuals interact with a number of smart city technologies on a daily basis, each of which is generating data about them.”
3 of 3

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

Each contradiction between two passages listed here was confirmed by an independent check.

  • Reference gives conflicting publication years

    Minor

    The same reference identifies the article as published in 2015 and dates its newspaper publication to 26 May 2011.

  • Google citation points to a different reference

    Minor

    The text cites reference 55 for Google, but reference 55 is by Narayanan and Shmatikov. Google is listed as reference 54.

2 of 2

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

1 of the 66 references couldn’t be matched to a known paper.

Research works printed but not linked: 7

  1. Ratti C, 2014, Decoding the city: how big data can change urbanism
  2. Bunge W, 1962, Theoretical geography
  3. Tomlinson RF, 1968, Land evaluation, 200
  4. Solove D, 2013, Privacy management and the consent dilemma, Harvard Law Rev., 126, 1880
  5. Tene O Polonetsky J. 2012 Big data for all: privacy and user control in the age of analytics. Social Sciences Research Network 20 September 2012. See http://ssrn.com/abstract=2149364 (accessed 15 July 2013).
  6. Solove DJ. 2007 ‘I've got nothing to hide’ and other misunderstandings of privacy. Social Sciences Research Network 12 July 2007. See http://ssrn.com/abstract=998565 (accessed 16 July 2013).
  7. Angwin J, 2014, Dragnet nation

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Related

Authors
Kitchin, R.
Affiliations
National University of Ireland, Maynooth (IE)
Corresponding author
Kitchin, Rob
ORCID
Kitchin, Rob
Venue
Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences
Publisher
The Royal Society
Published
2016-12-28
Volume
374
Issue
2083
Pages
20160115
ISSN
  • 1364-503X (ISSN-L)
  • 1471-2962
DOI
10.1098/rsta.2016.0115
PMC
PMC5124065
OpenAlex
W2552464140
Cited by
491
References
66
Citations by year
2026: 70 · 2025: 61 · 2024: 62 · 2023: 46 · 2022: 47 · 2021: 58 · 2020: 65 · 2019: 52 · 2018: 21 · 2017: 8 · 2016: 1
FWCI
29.42
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A Mathematical Physical and Engineering Sciences (publishedVersion, public-domain)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Maynooth University ePrints and eTheses Archive (Maynooth University) (acceptedVersion)
Funders
ERC Advanced Investigator (ERC-2012-AdG 323636-SOFTCITY)
Topics
  • Physical Sciences › Engineering › Media Technology › Smart Cities and Technologies
  • Social Sciences › Safety Research › Ethics and Social Impacts of AI
  • Social Sciences › Urban Studies › Urban Planning and Governance
Keywords
smart cities, urban science, urban informatics, data-driven urbanism, instrumental rationality, privacy, datafication, dataveillance, social sorting, anticipatory governance, data ethics, urban big data

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