Knowledge Agora



Scientific Article details

Title Knowledge politics in the smart city: A case study of strategic urban planning in Cambridge, UK
ID_Doc 38598
Authors Nochta, T; Wahby, N; Schooling, JM
Title Knowledge politics in the smart city: A case study of strategic urban planning in Cambridge, UK
Year 2021
Published
DOI 10.1017/dap.2021.28
Abstract This paper highlights the need and opportunities for constructively combining different types of (analogue and data-driven) knowledges in evidence-informed policy decision-making in future smart cities. Problematizing the assumed universality and objectivity of data-driven knowledge, we call attention to notions of "positionality" and "situatedness" in knowledge production relating to the urban present and possible futures. In order to illustrate our arguments, we draw on a case study of strategic urban (spatial) planning in the Cambridge city region in the United Kingdom. Tracing diverse knowledge production processes, including top-down data-driven knowledges derived from urban modeling, and bottom-up analogue community-based knowledges, allows us to identify locationally specific knowledge politics around evidence for policy. The findings highlight how evidence-informed urban policy can benefit from political processes of competition, contestation, negotiation, and complementarity that arise from interactions between diverse "digital" and "analogue" knowledges. We argue that studying such processes can help in assembling a more multifaceted, diverse and inclusive knowledge-base on which to base policy decisions, as well as to raise awareness and improve active participation in the ongoing "smartification" of cities.
Author Keywords city science; knowledge production; situated knowledge; smart city; urban planning
Index Keywords Index Keywords
Document Type Other
Open Access Open Access
Source Emerging Sources Citation Index (ESCI)
EID WOS:000850904100031
WoS Category Public Administration
Research Area Public Administration
PDF https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/95846561250379E3D93C5E9B4383549F/S2632324921000286a.pdf/div-class-title-knowledge-politics-in-the-smart-city-a-case-study-of-strategic-urban-planning-in-cambridge-uk-div.pdf
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