Lecture by Federico Cugurullo

Open Urban Seminars

AI and Governance in the Post-Smart City

Lecture by Dr. Federico Cugurullo, from Trinity College Dublin.

About the lecture

Urban artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly becoming a prominent feature of the shape and governance of the 21st century city. On the one hand, its emergence is linked to well-known practices of smart urbanism. On the other hand, however, urban AI manifests capabilities that goes well beyond the smart city, both empirically and theoretically. This presentation focuses on the most innovative and radical aspects of urban AI, and compares traditional smart tech with novel AI solutions that are emerging in the governance of contemporary cities. Upon examining the innovation that distinguishes AI from smart in urban governance, this presentation sheds light on the new challenges that the city is facing in the age of AI, offering conceptual and analytical tools to understand the urbanity of AI and its impact on present and future cities.

How is AI influencing urban governance and planning?

Federico Cugurullo is Associate Professor in Smart and Sustainable Urbanism at Trinity College Dublin. His research is positioned at the intersection of urban geography, political philosophy and experimental urbanism, and explores how artificial intelligence (AI) is influencing urban governance and planning, thereby impacting the sustainability of cities. Empirically, he has done extensive research in the Middle East and Southeast Asia on many experimental cities including Masdar City, Hong Kong and The Line. Theoretically, Federico is interested in unpacking the notion of AI from an urbanistic perspective, and in fleshing out the conceptual implications of AI-mediated urban spaces, such as the “end of the city” hypothesis introduced in his monograph Frankenstein Urbanism (Routledge 2021). He is a co-editor of Artificial Intelligence and the City: Urbanistic Perspectives on AI (Routledge 2023).

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