The Augmented City
The Augmented City: Seeing Through Disruption
New technologies have been driving the growth of cities for thousands of years, from the invention of agriculture and aqueducts to the steam engine and electricity. But while the urban innovations of the past restructured the physical world, today’s big breakthroughs work behind the scenes, sensing, shaping and revealing invisible patterns and new virtual spaces. Augmented reality (AR) is poised to reshape cities in ways that were unimaginable just a decade ago. This report, The Augmented City, by 2023 Urban Tech Fellow Greg Lindsay, examines both the exciting potential and the grave challenges posed by the integration of AR into urban life.
The rise of AR introduces exciting possibilities for transforming urban spaces and improving civic life. Imagine a city where residents can engage with real-time data on everything from public transportation to public art, or where digital tools guide visitors with enhanced accessibility and storytelling. However, the same technology that can make cities more interactive also risks eroding privacy, distorting public spaces, and deepening social divides and inequities. As we’ve learned from previous technological disruptions like ride-hailing and short-term rentals, cities face a critical dilemma: act too quickly and risk wasting resources on fleeting trends, or move too late and struggle to manage the consequences. Lindsay’s exploration of AR through both best-case and worst-case scenarios highlights the need for cities to anticipate the impacts of this powerful new technology and proactively shape how these tools are permitted to be deployed.
The Augmented City underscores the urgency of our work at the Urban Tech Hub to help governments anticipate the impacts of new technologies, revealing that unchecked AR could lead to a public realm dominated by corporate interests, data harvesting, and filter bubbles that fragment shared spaces. Without thoughtful regulation and governance, we risk allowing technology to disrupt urban life in ways that prioritize profit over people. Lindsay’s thoughtful, provocative, and comprehensive report is an essential guide for city leaders, urban planners, technologists, and community advocates seeking to navigate this exciting yet challenging new era.
Learn more by downloading the report below.