Abstract

In light of the proliferation of sensors, data and analytics, multiple digital quantification regimes are emerging under promises of a revolutionary change in the way in which decisions are made in areas such as urban planning and government. These regimes present a growing need to differentiate themselves in order to capitalize their data, deploying particular technologies that go beyond the digital. In this paper, we review two digital quantification regimes of urban cycling in Santiago, Chile: the RUBI device and KAPPO smartphone application. Through the study of the design of material and narrative technologies of these regimes, we will show how they try to distinguish their modes of quantifying the cyclists’ mobility, configuring particular versions of target users, the city and its forms of government, in order to promote an urban planning driven by data.

Keywords

digital quantification regimes, data-driven decisions, self-tracking, smart urbanism

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License

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Jun 25th, 12:00 AM

Regimes of Digital Quantification: making data-driven decisions?

In light of the proliferation of sensors, data and analytics, multiple digital quantification regimes are emerging under promises of a revolutionary change in the way in which decisions are made in areas such as urban planning and government. These regimes present a growing need to differentiate themselves in order to capitalize their data, deploying particular technologies that go beyond the digital. In this paper, we review two digital quantification regimes of urban cycling in Santiago, Chile: the RUBI device and KAPPO smartphone application. Through the study of the design of material and narrative technologies of these regimes, we will show how they try to distinguish their modes of quantifying the cyclists’ mobility, configuring particular versions of target users, the city and its forms of government, in order to promote an urban planning driven by data.

 

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