1.
Platform Cities:
The politics & practices
of data-driven urbanism
Dr. Sarah Barns,
Urban Studies Postdoctoral Fellow
University of Western Sydney
Urban Studies Foundation Forum
University of Glasgow
30 April 2015
April 2014

2.
Imagining the Computer of the
21st century’ Mark Weiser
and colleagues
terox PARC 1980s.

3.
‘Life on Demand’
Media habits in daily life

4.
‘Life on Demand’
Media habits in daily life

5.
Networkd City
Image by SENSEable City Lab
‘Platform Urbanism’

6.
Networkd City
Image by SENSEable City Lab
‘Platform Urbanism’
The study and design of urban practices that respond to new
configurations between the physical and digital layers of people,
networks and urban infrastructures resulting from real-time,
ubiquitous technology and platforms

7.
Networkd City
Image by SENSEable City Lab
‘Platform Urbanism’
Urban imaginaries: Ways of understanding the urban
Entrepreneurial tactics: Ways of selling data-driven services
Reflexive interventions: Ways of practising, ways of sensing
Data-driven governance: Shaping policy & strategy

8.
Re-imagining the city: The Smart City

9.
In 2012, for the first time ever, the TED Prize
went not to an individual, but to an idea on
which our planet's future depends:
the City 2.0
Re-imagining the city: Participatory Commons

10.
Re-imagining the city:
The City as software development kit

11.
Re-imaging the city:
Public Open Data

12.
"In 2012 it made less and less sense to talk about
'the Internet’, 'the PC business,' 'telephones,'
'Silicon Valley,' or 'the media,' and much more
sense to just study Google, Apple, Facebook,
Amazon and Microsoft.
These big five American vertically organized
silos are re-making the world in their image. ”
-Bruce Stirling
‘The Age of the Platform’

13.
Supported by Cloud computing, app ecosystems, mobile user devices and
communities.
Successful platforms can be defined by the following features:
vibrant communities
rich-content channels
third-party APIs,
provision of value-added transactions (such as automated
recommendations & personalisation)
influence or adapt to constantly evolving devices.
Platforms host ‘communities of value’.
Platforms: ‘Software-driven innovation ecosystems’

14.
Networkd City
Image by SENSEable City Lab
Key Questions
How are platform-based business models shaping urban governance?
What claims are made?
What kinds of alliances, urban experts and coalitions are being established around these
platform models?
Who benefits?
What are the risks?

15.
Fields of Practice: Case studies
2. Digital entrepreneurialism: Platform based business models
1. Digital strategy: Government as Platform
3. Everyday urban sensing: Practical interventions

16.
‘The second wave of digital transformation in government – Gov.Uk’
“
From business to Governance models

17.
CASE STUDY
City-wide digital strategy as digital governance tool
‘Roadmap
for a Digital
New
York’ (2011 –
13)
Digital
Manchester
Digital
Vancouver
Digital
Brisbane

18.
OPEN DATA
OPEN
GOVERNMENT
‘GOVERNMENT AS PLATFORM’
OPEN APIS
S-A-A-S
GOV
TRANSPERANCY
NEW CIVICS
INSTITUTIONAL
REFORM
OPEN
INNOVATION
‘OPENNESS’?

19.
2. SOCRATA CASE STUDY
‘A
cloud
so*ware
company
focused
exclusively
on
democra7sing
access
to
government
data’.
–Socrata

20.
Civic tech

21.
Civic tech

22.
Crowd funding
Funding projects
that enhance public
services and spaces
Collaborative
consumption
Peer to peer sharing of
resident owned good
and services
Tools for sharing other
corporate assets (incl
land)
Place based rorums
Open Government
Access to public data
Transparency of
govermment decision
making
Source: Knight
Foundation 2014
Start ups &
Incubators
Tech based / VC
backed investors
Civic tech

23.
SOCRATA-POWERED CIVIC DASHBOARD

24.
166%
80%
108%
95%
79%
83%
0%
50%
100%
150%
200%
Revenue Growth
Customer Growth
Employee Growth
Retention Rate
Upgrade to new services
No of datasets
2013
2013 DEMAND FOR SERVICES

25.
PLATFORM PLAYS ON CITY GOV

26.
What are the risks?

27.
3. Reflexive interventions

28.
Reflections
Rights to information infrastructure?
Data citizenship, digital ecosystems
Reflexive interventions

29.
Thank you!
s.barns@uws.edu.au
@_sarahbarns