Author: Shannon Mattern

Computational models of urbanism—smart cities that use data-driven planning and algorithmic administration —promise to deliver new urban efficiencies and conveniences. Yet these models limit our understanding of what we can know about a city.

“A City Is Not a Computer” reveals how cities encompass myriad forms of local and indigenous intelligences and knowledge institutions, arguing that these resources are a vital supplement and corrective to increasingly prevalent algorithmic models.