ABSTRACT
The recent rise in the availability of big data in every sector of city governance and the lucrative tags attached to the management and control of such data have increased the demand for data analysts, software engineers, and creators of urban models. A crucial step in the making of this ‘smartmentality’ has been the coming together of different forms of expertise, often the outcome of academic and industry joint ventures supported by supranational public funding strategy. The ‘smart city’ as a unified ideal starts appearing to some as a less solid proposition than initially thought, with city leaders and civic society groups voicing their concerns, doubts, and policy alternatives to city managers, academics, and industry representatives. In other words, the bullshit seems to have come to the fore. The prolonged lockdown and the stop to most industry and services deemed ‘not essential’ have generated predictable economic emergency for many people.
