New working paper for our Chair!

THE SECOND working paper OF THE YEAR OF THE CITIES AND DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY Chair IS NOW AVAILABLE.

Named The Impact of Digital Firms on Urban Governance Model in China: An Empirical Analysis of the Smart City Brain Model in China, >this paper aims to gain an overview on how smart city is being interpreted and embedded in China, through the example of Huawei and Alibaba’s smart city implementations in Shenzhen and Hangzhou. The article has been written by Sixiao Yang, a student of the Urban planning programme.

Abstract : This paper aims to gain an overview on how smart city is being interpreted and embedded in China, through the example of Huawei and Alibaba’s smart city implementations in Shenzhen and Hangzhou. It examines the emergence of the “Brain-Nerves” model of smart urban governance in Chinese cities, as well as the practices, processes and outcomes that are currently unfolding on the ground. By questioning the logic, promise and imaginaries of “City Brain”, the article aims at providing empirical evidences that are specific to the Chinese context, in order to illustrate the interactions and interdependencies between public and private stakeholders that are fostering the transformations of urban governance modes in China.   

Read the paper