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The popularity and application of artificial intelligence (AI) are increasing rapidly all around the world—where, in simple terms, AI is a technology which mimics the behaviors commonly associated with human intelligence. Today, various AI applications are being used in areas ranging from marketing to banking and finance, from agriculture to healthcare and security, from space exploration to robotics and transport, and from chatbots to artificial creativity and manufacturing. More recently, AI applications have also started to become an integral part of many urban services. Urban artificial intelligences manage the transport systems of cities, run restaurants and shops where every day urbanity is expressed, repair urban infrastructure, and govern multiple urban domains such as traffic, air quality monitoring, garbage collection, and energy. In the age of uncertainty and complexity that is upon us, the increasing adoption of AI is expected to continue, and so its impact on the sustainability of our cities. This viewpoint explores and questions the sustainability of AI from the lens of smart and sustainable cities, and generates insights into emerging urban artificial intelligences and the potential symbiosis between AI and a smart and sustainable urbanism. In terms of methodology, this viewpoint deploys a thorough review of the current status of AI and smart and sustainable cities literature, research, developments, trends, and applications. In so doing, it contributes to existing academic debates in the fields of smart and sustainable cities and AI. In addition, by shedding light on the uptake of AI in cities, the viewpoint seeks to help urban policymakers, planners, and citizens make informed decisions about a sustainable adoption of AI.
Tan Yigitcanlar; Federico Cugurullo. The Sustainability of Artificial Intelligence: An Urbanistic Viewpoint from the Lens of Smart and Sustainable Cities. Sustainability 2020, 12, 8548 .
AMA StyleTan Yigitcanlar, Federico Cugurullo. The Sustainability of Artificial Intelligence: An Urbanistic Viewpoint from the Lens of Smart and Sustainable Cities. Sustainability. 2020; 12 (20):8548.
Chicago/Turabian StyleTan Yigitcanlar; Federico Cugurullo. 2020. "The Sustainability of Artificial Intelligence: An Urbanistic Viewpoint from the Lens of Smart and Sustainable Cities." Sustainability 12, no. 20: 8548.
Autonomous cars controlled by an artificial intelligence are increasingly being integrated in the transport portfolio of cities, with strong repercussions for the design and sustainability of the built environment. This paper sheds light on the urban transition to autonomous transport, in a threefold manner. First, we advance a theoretical framework to understand the diffusion of autonomous cars in cities, on the basis of three interconnected factors: social attitudes, technological innovation and urban politics. Second, we draw upon an in-depth survey conducted in Dublin (1,233 respondents), to provide empirical evidence of (a) the public interest in autonomous cars and the intention to use them once available, (b) the fears and concerns that individuals have regarding autonomous vehicles and (c) how people intend to employ this new form of transport. Third, we use the empirics generated via the survey as a stepping stone to discuss possible urban futures, focusing on the changes in urban design and sustainability that the transition to autonomous transport is likely to trigger. Interpreting the data through the lens of smart and neoliberal urbanism, we picture a complex urban geography characterized by shared and private autonomous vehicles, human drivers and artificial intelligences overlapping and competing for urban spaces.
Federico Cugurullo; Ransford A. Acheampong; Maxime Gueriau; Ivana Dusparic. The transition to autonomous cars, the redesign of cities and the future of urban sustainability. Urban Geography 2020, 1 -27.
AMA StyleFederico Cugurullo, Ransford A. Acheampong, Maxime Gueriau, Ivana Dusparic. The transition to autonomous cars, the redesign of cities and the future of urban sustainability. Urban Geography. 2020; ():1-27.
Chicago/Turabian StyleFederico Cugurullo; Ransford A. Acheampong; Maxime Gueriau; Ivana Dusparic. 2020. "The transition to autonomous cars, the redesign of cities and the future of urban sustainability." Urban Geography , no. : 1-27.
Federico Cugurullo. Starchitecture. Scenes, actors and spectacles in contemporary cities. Urban Geography 2018, 39, 1451 -1453.
AMA StyleFederico Cugurullo. Starchitecture. Scenes, actors and spectacles in contemporary cities. Urban Geography. 2018; 39 (9):1451-1453.
Chicago/Turabian StyleFederico Cugurullo. 2018. "Starchitecture. Scenes, actors and spectacles in contemporary cities." Urban Geography 39, no. 9: 1451-1453.
In recent years, the world has seen the emergence of a number of urban projects which, under the banner of experimentation, have promoted alternative models of city-making capable, in theory, of creating sustainable built environments. Among these supposedly experimental models, the smart city and the eco-city stand out in terms of geographical diffusion, and are hailed by their advocates as the mark of an innovative urbanism based on a scientific approach to urban development. Through the analysis of Hong Kong and Masdar City, examples of a smart-city agenda and an eco-city project respectively, this paper questions the sustainability of so-called smart cities and eco-cities, by investigating the extent to which they are developed in a controlled and systematic manner as their developers claim. More specifically, the paper counterclaims mainstream understandings of smart and ecological urbanism, arguing that what are promoted as cohesive settlements shaped by a homogeneous vision of the sustainable city, are actually fragmented cities made of disconnected and often incongruous pieces of urban fabric. Theoretically, these claims are discussed through the concept of Frankenstein urbanism which draws upon Mary Shelley’s novel as a metaphor for unsuccessful experiments generated by the forced union of different, incompatible elements.
Federico Cugurullo. Exposing smart cities and eco-cities: Frankenstein urbanism and the sustainability challenges of the experimental city. Environment and Planning A: Economy and Space 2017, 50, 73 -92.
AMA StyleFederico Cugurullo. Exposing smart cities and eco-cities: Frankenstein urbanism and the sustainability challenges of the experimental city. Environment and Planning A: Economy and Space. 2017; 50 (1):73-92.
Chicago/Turabian StyleFederico Cugurullo. 2017. "Exposing smart cities and eco-cities: Frankenstein urbanism and the sustainability challenges of the experimental city." Environment and Planning A: Economy and Space 50, no. 1: 73-92.