Urban experimentation and smart cities: a Foucauldian and autonomist approach

Abstract

This paper provides an analytical framework capable of critically analysing the currently hegemonic phenomenon of smart cities in the contemporary metropolis, particularly concerning their assumptions and potential effects. Using a critical perspective through the scope of governmentality studies and autonomist literature, an analytical framework is presented that allows for the comprehension and critical analysis of the phenomenon in question. Both this theoretical review and the analytical framework will form the basis for a critical analysis of a case study in Dublin, Ireland, taken as an example of the diversity of phenomena and issues to be addressed in this paper. The case study concerns a project by See.Sense, a company located in Dublin, which involved the introduction of 500 bike lights with Internet of Things (IoT) and digital technology in its urban space, this being an example of urban experimentation within smart cities. The paper concludes by defending that the phenomenon in question constitutes not only a form of technological mediation and economic production but also a transformation of urban space and its subjects and population, implying a structuring of social practices and relationships.