Data as the New Driving Gears of Urbanization

Abstract

While there have been a slow rural–urban transition which highlighted the role that cities are the centre for sustaining economies of regions, and even countries, it was the advent of the Internet that has drastically changed the way they are planned, operate and seen. A resulting rise in data, fuelled by a heavy technological revolution, showed that there are new ways of increasing urban efficiency and productivity. This has even reflected in reforms at governance levels and has proved how the digital layer can provide stronger networks. However, while this reinforces economies, it brings substantial changes in urban lifestyle that has for centuries and decades remained unchanged. This disruption in lifestyle is happening at faster speed and impacting not only on the social strata, but also reflecting in its physical form, the urban morphology. While the primary notion of increasing efficiency of cities is understood, the question remains of how to allow change while still catering for the liveability of cities.