260
12 Digital Democracy
who later live in these cities. Such projects are typically implemented without much
feedback from citizens. This makes it difficult to meet their needs. In fact, some of
these cities have ended as “ghost cities”.
65
In the wake of the digital revolution, data-driven approaches promised to overcome
these problems. “Smart Cities”,
66 “Smart Nations,”
67 and even a “Smarter Planet”
68
were proposed. Various big IT companies decided to invest huge amounts of money
into platforms designed to run the “cities of the future”. Fueled by the upcoming
Internet of Things, cities would be covered with plenty of sensors to automate them
and thereby turn them into a technology-driven “paradise.”
69 So far, however, these
expectations have not been met.
70 Why?
Geoffrey West (*1940) points out that cities cannot be run like companies.
71 A
company is oriented at maximizing profit, i.e. a single quantity, while a city must
balance a lot of different goals and interests. This tends to make companies efficient,
but vulnerable to mistakes. Cities are often less efficient, but more resilient. Driven
by diverse interests, cities naturally do not put all eggs in one basket. This is why
cities typically live longer than businesses, kingdoms, empires, and nation states.
72
Importantly, cities are not just giant supply chains. They are also not huge entertainment parks, in which citizens consume premanufactured experiences. Instead,
they are places of experimentation, learning, social interaction, creativity, innovation, and participation. Cities are places, in which diverse talents and perspectives
come together, and collective intelligence emerges. Quality of life results, when
many kinds of people can pursue their interests and unfold their talents while these
activities inspire and catalyse each other. In other words, cities partly self-organize,
based on a co-evolutionary dynamics.
73
While rapid urbanization comes with many problems, such as the overuse of
resources, climate change and inequality, cities become ever more important, as they
are motors of innovation. Presently, more than half of humanity lives in cities, and
the urban population is expected to increase to 68% by 2050. To meet the social,
economic, and ecological challenges, innovation must be further accelerated, as the
UN Agenda 2030 Sustainable Development Goals
74 stress.
Given the digital revolution and the sustainability challenges, we now have to
re-invent the way cities and human settlements are built and operated, and how cities
65 See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ghost_towns_by_country, https://en.wikipedia.org/
wiki/Under-occupied_developments_in_China.
66 See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smart_city.
67 See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smart_Nation.
68 See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smarter_Planet.
69 A Paradise, But Freezing Cold, Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin (February 2020) https://www.
wiko-berlin.de/en/wikotheque/koepfe-und-ideen/issue/15/das-kalte-paradies.
70 Hugel and Hoare [32].
71 West [33].
72 Sassen [34].
73 Bettencourt and West [35], Batty [36].
74 See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sustainable_Development_Goals.
12 Digital Democracy
who later live in these cities. Such projects are typically implemented without much
feedback from citizens. This makes it difficult to meet their needs. In fact, some of
these cities have ended as “ghost cities”.
65
In the wake of the digital revolution, data-driven approaches promised to overcome
these problems. “Smart Cities”,
66 “Smart Nations,”
67 and even a “Smarter Planet”
68
were proposed. Various big IT companies decided to invest huge amounts of money
into platforms designed to run the “cities of the future”. Fueled by the upcoming
Internet of Things, cities would be covered with plenty of sensors to automate them
and thereby turn them into a technology-driven “paradise.”
69 So far, however, these
expectations have not been met.
70 Why?
Geoffrey West (*1940) points out that cities cannot be run like companies.
71 A
company is oriented at maximizing profit, i.e. a single quantity, while a city must
balance a lot of different goals and interests. This tends to make companies efficient,
but vulnerable to mistakes. Cities are often less efficient, but more resilient. Driven
by diverse interests, cities naturally do not put all eggs in one basket. This is why
cities typically live longer than businesses, kingdoms, empires, and nation states.
72
Importantly, cities are not just giant supply chains. They are also not huge entertainment parks, in which citizens consume premanufactured experiences. Instead,
they are places of experimentation, learning, social interaction, creativity, innovation, and participation. Cities are places, in which diverse talents and perspectives
come together, and collective intelligence emerges. Quality of life results, when
many kinds of people can pursue their interests and unfold their talents while these
activities inspire and catalyse each other. In other words, cities partly self-organize,
based on a co-evolutionary dynamics.
73
While rapid urbanization comes with many problems, such as the overuse of
resources, climate change and inequality, cities become ever more important, as they
are motors of innovation. Presently, more than half of humanity lives in cities, and
the urban population is expected to increase to 68% by 2050. To meet the social,
economic, and ecological challenges, innovation must be further accelerated, as the
UN Agenda 2030 Sustainable Development Goals
74 stress.
Given the digital revolution and the sustainability challenges, we now have to
re-invent the way cities and human settlements are built and operated, and how cities
65 See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ghost_towns_by_country, https://en.wikipedia.org/
wiki/Under-occupied_developments_in_China.
66 See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smart_city.
67 See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smart_Nation.
68 See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smarter_Planet.
69 A Paradise, But Freezing Cold, Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin (February 2020) https://www.
wiko-berlin.de/en/wikotheque/koepfe-und-ideen/issue/15/das-kalte-paradies.
70 Hugel and Hoare [32].
71 West [33].
72 Sassen [34].
73 Bettencourt and West [35], Batty [36].
74 See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sustainable_Development_Goals.