Public Initiatives in the Digital Policy of Urban Data

Introduction. Today there is no doubt that the city is being transformed thanks to the rapid improvement of the technologizing environment. However, an exclusively technical analysis of the problem emphasizes the role of citizens as direct users and producers of new data. The article is devoted to the analysis of the impact of digital technologies on the modern life of urban residents. Tools to reduce the vulnerability of network urbanism are proposed. The purpose of this study is to search for new methods and means to realize the right of urban residents to a comfortable and safe life with the help of digital technologies, and not in spite of them.

Materials and methods. Previously carried out research in the field of smartization and digitalization of the modern city allowed us to establish that digital technologies are firmly established in the lives of citizens. The tendency to develop the city from the technical side will continue and, moreover, multiply, since it is convenient to entrust most of the routine processes performed by people to technology. In this regard, the fears and risks of scientists are justified, who note the vulnerability of technologies that have not withstood strength tests already during the COVID-19 pandemic. Self-isolation has identified such problems as the insecurity of the safety of user data, fraudulent tricks of the population, and also increased political tension in the "state power-citizens" connection. As a leveling of the undermined trust on the part of urban residents, an agile methodology is proposed, the implementation of which will allow developers to adapt their developments to the actual needs of urban users and treat the release and testing of new products for potential users more humanely. Urban activism as a form of inventory of urban space is considered as an effective tool for solving local urban problems by citizens.

Results. Civic activism as a form of inventory of the city made it possible to establish close cooperation between technologies and people in the struggle for the right to influence the urban environment and accept, or vice versa, reject the decisions made by the city authorities.

Discussion and conclusion. In conclusion, the data obtained by the empirical method of studying the information received from activist users are summarized. The exit of civil society activists from the online space to offline allowed us to establish a hybrid (material and media) form of participation of modern citizens. 

1. Graham S., Marvin S. Splintering urbanism: Networked infrastructures, techniligical mobilities and the urban condition. New York: Routledge, 2001.

2. Komninos N. Smart cities and connected intelligence: platforms, ecosystems and network effects. Routledge, 2020.

3. Kitchin R., Dodge M. Code / Space: Software and everyday life. — Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2011.

4. Forster T., Penagos A., Scherr S., Buck L., Ramirez E. Stocktaking on Territorial Approaches – Experiences and Lessons. URL: giz.de/en/downloads/Territorial%20Approaches%20for%20Sustainable%20 Development.pdf.

5. Thwaites K. S., Porta O. Romice and M. Greaves, 2007. Space and people: the case for socially sustainable urban design. Urban Sustainbility through Environmental Design:approaches to time, people and place responsive urban spaces, HT166.U7453 2007(HT166.U7453 2007): P. 4–9.

6. Bridle J. New Dark Age: Technology and the End of the Future. Verso, 2018.

7. Kitchin R. The opportunities, challenges and risks of big data for official statistics// Statistical Journal of the International Association of Official Statistics. 2015. Vol. 31. № 3. P. 471–481.

8. Gerbaudo P. Twwets and the Streets. Social media and Contemporary Activism. — London: Plutopress, 2012.

9. Kitchin R. Data-driven, networked urbanism: The Programmable City Working Paper 14 (2015, August 10). URL: http://www.spatialcomplexcity.info/files/2015/08/SSRN-id2641802.pdf .

10. Dodge M., Kitchin R. Codes of life: Identification codes and the machine-readable world // Environment and Planning D: Society and space. — 2005. — Vol. 23. № 6. — P. 851–881.

11. Goodwin J., Jasper J.M., Polletta F. Passionate politics: emotions and social movements. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2001.

12. Jasper J. M. Introduction. Playing the game // Players and arenas. The interactive dynamics of protest. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, 2015. P. 9-32.