Bridging digital divides: User-generated data and volunteered urban sensing for inclusive smart city governance

Urban digital transformation has the potential to improve quality of life by connecting data generated by sensors, mobile phones and networked everyday objects to enhance services, participation and sustainability. However, when such technologies are implemented in a purely technocratic manner, they often deepen existing social and digital divides, this meaning that only well-connected groups benefit from smart-city innovations. The objective of this paper is to apply a combination of citizen-generated data combining methodologies such as the WIN (Wishes, Interests and Needs) methodology of diverse residents to co-design and an Urban Living Lab approach that test solutions in real urban settings, emphasizing inclusion from the outset to the innovation process with User-generated Data and Volunteered Urban Sensing. By centering local knowledge and everyday experiences, the approach seeks to develop more sustainable, fair and holistic smart-city configurations in which a broad majority of citizens can meaningfully shape and share the benefits of urban digital transformation.