AI promises to reshape city operations and governance, offering both opportunities and risks. This project is engaging with officials and practitioners in ‘first-mover' cities globally to understand emerging uses of AI, and what governance measures achieve good urban outcomes.
Artificial intelligence (AI) is being widely implemented in the governance of cities across the world - promising to reshape urban design, urban planning and urban life. Investment in the development of Urban AI technologies is accelerating rapidly, such as experiments in improving development assessment, management of crowds in public spaces, or streamlining city services like waste and citizen engagement. Integrating AI into city governance offers enormous potential to enhance operational efficiency, improve responsiveness and support the delivery of tailored and data-informed services to urban communities. While much of the existing research focuses on the technical design or performance of individual AI systems, this project aims to build knowledge about the wider, profound implications of AI for cities and their governance.
The research will use qualitative and digital ethnographic methods, essential for capturing the complex, context-specific ways AI is embedded in urban governance. The initial stage involves an extensive review of existing literature, governance frameworks and emerging AI initiatives in “first-mover” cities in Australia and internationally. Followed by interviewing local experts to capture practitioner insights and shaping our understanding of the drivers behind current initiatives. In later stages, we will undertake in-situ ethnographic studies, spending time with city officials to observe and reflect on how AI influences day-to-day practices and evolves contextually.
The project also investigates the risks AI poses for urban governance, such as the potential to deepen inequality, create surveillant cities and erode public trust. As non-human intelligence and automation become more influential in shaping urban environments, this project investigates measures required to understand and harness AI’s extraordinary possibilities against the potential harms, and how cities can utilise and govern AI to promote fair and sustainable urban outcomes.
While there is growing international interest in ethical AI and responsible innovation, the urban context raises distinct opportunities and risks overlooked in general frameworks. Cities’ complex political, social, and spatial dynamics demand more than a one-size-fits-all solution. By grounding our analysis in the lived realities and practical challenges of integrating AI in urban settings, we aim to move beyond abstract principles to develop context-specific guidance to equip cities in Australia and internationally to achieve fairer and more sustainable outcomes through the adoption of AI technologies.
This project is supported by a multidisciplinary team with deep expertise across digital geographies, critical urban governance, urban studies, and digital planning. Together, the team brings a rich and complementary mix of perspectives, spanning theoretical insight, policy analysis, technical, and practice-based knowledge, to examine how AI is reshaping cities. The project runs from 2025 to 2027.
Daniel, C., & Pettit, C. (2025). The use of urban analytics in strategic planning – A case study of the greater Sydney region plan. Computers, Environment and Urban Systems, 117, 102249. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compenvurbsys.2025.102249
Caprotti, F., Cugurullo, F., Cook, M., Karvonen, A., Marvin, S., McGuirk, P., & Valdez, A.-M. (2024). Why does urban Artificial Intelligence (AI) matter for urban studies? Developing research directions in urban AI research. Urban Geography, 45(5), 883–894. https://doi.org/10.1080/02723638.2024.2329401
Cugurullo, F., Caprotti, F., Cook, M., Karvonen, A., MᶜGuirk, P., & Marvin, S. (2024). The rise of AI urbanism in post-smart cities: A critical commentary on urban artificial intelligence. Urban Studies, 61(6), 1168–1182. https://doi.org/10.1177/00420980231203386
Daniel, C., Wentz, E., Hurtado, P., Yang, W., & Pettit, C. (2024). Digital Technology Use and Future Expectations: A Multinational Survey of Professional Planners. Journal of the American Planning Association, 90(3), 405–420. https://doi.org/10.1080/01944363.2023.2253295
Maalsen, S. (2024). Home in cybersymbiosis: making home with digital oddkin. Information, Communication & Society, 27(9), 1759–1775. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369118X.2024.2311243
Cugurullo, F., Caprotti, F., Cook, M., Karvonen, A., McGuirk, P., & Marvin, S. (2023). Artificial Intelligence and the City: Urbanistic Perspectives on AI (1st ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003365877
Dowling, R., McGuirk, P., & Sisson, A. (2023). Reinforcing and refracting automobility: Urban experimentation with autonomous vehicles. In Artificial Intelligence and the City. Routledge.
Maalsen, S. (2023). Algorithmic epistemologies and methodologies: Algorithmic harm, algorithmic care and situated algorithmic knowledges. Progress in Human Geography, 47(2), 197-214. https://doi.org/10.1177/03091325221149439 (Original work published 2023)
Dowling, R., & McGuirk, P. (2022). Autonomous vehicle experiments and the city. Urban Geography, 43(3), 409–426. https://doi.org/10.1080/02723638.2020.1866392
Daniel, C., & Pettit, C. (2021). Digital disruption and planning – use of data and digital technology by professional planners, and perceptions of change to planning work. Australian Planner, 57(1), 50–64. https://doi.org/10.1080/07293682.2021.1920995
This Project is funded through an ARC Discovery Grant DP250101885.
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