FROM TECHNOCRATIC SMART CITIES TOWARDS DEMOCRATIC URBAN FUTURES: RECLAIMING THE RIGHT TO THE CITY

Date

2025-1-08

Author

Tosun, Selin

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Climate change, population growth, migration, and rapid urbanization have been radically transforming cities at a rapid pace on a global scale. Confronted with environmental, spatial, and social justice challenges deepened by anthropocentric belief systems and neoliberal policies, cities have turned to seek new and alternative solutions. Smart city initiatives have emerged in this context, promising more efficient, productive, faster, and more performant cities. In this evolving landscape, however, the smart city paradigm has introduced new complexities to the understanding and realization of the “right to the city.” The thesis is built upon the argument that citizens’ right to the city and the questions of environmental, spatial, and social justice in relation to that are being critically undermined by the technocratic understanding of the smart city. It claims that the major underlying factor that threatens social justice stems from the technology-driven discourses and practices that translate into mechanisms of depoliticization through urban governance and spatial practices. In this context, the thesis explores the potential in the affordances of smart city technologies to empower citizens, increase their participation, reclaim their right to the city, and achieve democratic urban futures. Accordingly, the thesis examines the power dynamics of the smart city under the framework of governance, and the ever-changing interpretations of publicness in relation with urban space in different cases. Finally, it provides insight into policy and practice, stressing the potential of a greater extent of citizen participation in shaping smart city initiatives.

Subject Keywords

Right to the City, Social-Spatial-Environmental Justice, Smart City, Sustainable Development, Citizen Participation

URI

https://hdl.handle.net/11511/113497

Collections

Graduate School of Natural and Applied Sciences, Thesis