Artificial intelligence is already making consequential decisions in cities: which neighbourhoods get more policing, which buildings get retrofitted first, which social service recipients are prioritised, which infrastructure investments get approved. In most cities, these decisions are being made by systems whose training data, objectives, and governance structures are opaque to the communities affected. The question is not whether AI will be used to govern cities it already is. The question is whether it will be used to serve the interests of all urban residents or to entrench the advantages of those who already have them.
This lab examines the governance of urban AI not as an abstract ethics question but as a concrete design challenge drawing on urban technology work and smart city design experience to develop practical governance frameworks for responsible AI deployment in three urban contexts: a city using AI for climate adaptation planning, a city deploying AI in social service delivery, and a city using AI for urban mobility optimisation.
