The KNOWledge politics of experimentING with smart urbanism

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The aim of the proposed research project is to develop theoretical and empirical understanding of how smart urbanism experiments are re-shaping urban knowledge politics in European cities. The project proposes a symmetrical analysis of formal, corporate-led initiatives and informal, grassroots-led initiatives, as well as hybrid combinations. Together we refer to these as smart urbanism experiments. First, an interdisciplinary and comparative theoretical framework is developed on the knowledge politics of smart urbanism experimentation. This framework advances perspectives from critical urban geography, science and technology studies and socio-technical transitions literature. Second, the project will apply and test the framework in 8 European cities in the UK, the Netherlands, Germany, France and Spain to gain deep empirical understanding of contemporary (formal and informal) smart urbanism. Finally, this provides the opportunity to actively contribute to shaping contemporary debates on smart urbanism. The project will support cross-national, comparative analysis for refining and debating the initial theoretical framework in various settings.