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A theatre of machines: Automata circuses and digital bread in the smart city of Toronto
Author(s) -
Tenney Matthew,
Garnett Ryan,
Wylie Bianca
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
the canadian geographer / le géographe canadien
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.35
H-Index - 46
eISSN - 1541-0064
pISSN - 0008-3658
DOI - 10.1111/cag.12636
Subject(s) - smart city , citizen journalism , corporate governance , government (linguistics) , open data , public relations , convergence (economics) , key (lock) , local government , public administration , political science , business , sociology , knowledge management , computer science , internet of things , computer security , world wide web , economic growth , economics , linguistics , philosophy , finance
In this paper, the policies, projects, and promises of “smart” initiatives at the City of Toronto are evaluated, as they manifest through a technological convergence between local government services and an increased focus on citizen services through data‐driven mediums. Through direct participant observation and formal interviews, a robust understanding of the internal institutional dynamics, the perspectives citizens in the “smart city,” and the operational disconnects in governance, policy, and practice has been gained. Our case study on the City of Toronto provides an account of how and from where these smart motivations for increasing a data‐driven engagement with the public have arisen over the past several years. In doing so, we identify key characteristics that both enable and hinder the existing smart city in the forms of access to open data, the use of increased computational methods, and the engagement of public services through digital space as requirements for the future of participatory governance. We argue that instituting appropriate policies and engaging citizens to co‐design and participate in the planning processes are essential to ensuring an inclusive, modern, and open smart city .