ABSTRACT
As more municipalities across the world seek to partner with technology companies to address the challenges of urban growth (e.g., broadband Internet access, traffic congestion, and crimes), the governance of smart city projects extends from an instrumental focus on the pipes and cables to include concerns regarding management and access to data under the new “Smart City policies.” Using Sidewalk Toronto as a case study, the vision of algorithmic governance in Alphabet/Sidewalk Labs’ smart city proposal was examined. It was demonstrated that the underlying goal of the project was to substitute municipal governance for the automated private governance. Similarly, the company’s concept of algorithmic planning was analyzed, which is marketed as an effective way to shape the individual and collective behaviors. By juxtaposing these two examples, the connection between algorithmic planning as a new form of social control and the automation of the city services in Smart Cities was highlighted.
