The sensor desert quandary: What does it mean (not) to count in the smart city?

As a central component of the smart city, sensor infrastructures locate and measure a wide range of variables in order to characterise the urban environment. Perhaps the most visible expression of the smart city, sensor deployment is a key equity concern. As new sensor technologies and Big Data interact with social processes, they have the potential to reproduce well-documented spatial injustices. Contrary to promises of providing new knowledge and data for cities, they can also create new gaps in understanding about specific urban populations that fall into the interstices of data collection - sensor deserts. Building on emerging data justice debates, specifically considering distributional, recognition, and procedural forms of injustice, we conceptualise and analyse sensor deserts through two case studies, Newcastle's Urban Observatory (UK) and Chicago's Array of Things (USA). Open sensor locations are integrated with small-area, socio-economic data to evidence the demographic configuration and spatialities of sensor deserts across each city. We illustrate how the structural processes via which inequality is reinforced by smart agendas manifest as uneven social and spatial outcomes. In doing so, the paper opens up a new conceptual space in which to consider what it means (not) to count in the smart city, bringing a demographic perspective to critical debates about smart urbanisms.

Automated summary

Sensor infrastructures in smart cities play a crucial role in characterizing the urban environment, but they also raise concerns about equity and spatial injustices. The interaction of new sensor technologies and Big Data may create gaps in understanding specific urban populations, leading to the concept of sensor deserts. Through case studies, we see how structural inequalities are reinforced by smart agendas, manifesting as uneven social and spatial outcomes.