UNITAC Hamburg organized and hosted the "Urban Tech for Equity" conference from June 18th to 20th, 2024, at the City Science Lab at HafenCity University. This significant event has taken place as part of UN-Habitat's consultations to develop International Guidelines on People-Centred Smart Cities.
The UNITAC Conference on Urban Tech for Equity focused on the first key recommendation of the resolution approved by Member States in June 2023 at the Habitat Assembly of the United Nations: the role of data-driven urban technologies to reduce social inequalities.
"Science plays an essential role in the process of formulating the People-Centered Smart Cities guidelines. We deliver best practice examples about how to reduce social inequity with innovative digital tools, reflect on notions, evaluate projects, conduct comparative studies and give advice in an international context" - says Prof. Dr. Gesa Ziemer, Academic lead of UNITAC and Director of City Science Lab, Hamburg
With over 20 international speakers and contributors, the conference attracted around 80 on-site participants and approximately 300 online registrants. The conference has been a critical moment for the academic community who play a key role in anticipating and assessing the impact of digital technologies on people’s quality of life. The outcomes will provide concrete proposals on how the international guidelines can promote equity in smart city development.
UN-Habitat's International Guidelines on People-Centred Smart Cities will serve as a non-binding framework for developing national and local smart city regulations, plans and strategies to ensure that digital urban infrastructure and data contribute to making cities and human settlements sustainable, inclusive, prosperous, and respectful of human rights.
“In the context of the International Guidelines on People-Centre Smart Cities, the Conference brings together academic institutions and practitioners to discuss how data-driven urban technologies can reduce social inequality. This is an important contribution to the robustness and relevance of the guidelines whose main purpose is to ensure that digital and other new technologies contribute to reducing spatial, economic, social and digital inequalities”, - says Edlam Abera Yemeru, Director, External Relations, Strategy, Knowledge and Innovation Division and Chief of Knowledge and Innovation Branch at UN-Habitat
UNITAC is a partnership between UN-Habitat with UN OICT and the HafenCity University, launched in Hamburg, in 2020, with financial support from the German Government. It provides digital tools and capacity to help national and local governments achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, particularly SDG 11, and to implement the New Urban Agenda, building people-centered smart cities.
Conference day 1
The first day of the conference began with an engaging kickoff, setting the tone for the discussions ahead. The first keynote was delivered by Ayona Datta from University College London, titled "Pathways to Digital Democracy: A Feminist Toolkit from the Digital Urban Margins." This keynote explored bottom-up approaches to people-centred smart cities through collaboration with young women and marginal communities in India’s urban peripheries, presenting also a jointly developed rap song
Following this, the first panel discussion focused on the practice of Collaboration in urban tech projects. The session delved into how digital applications can enable equal participation, minimize power imbalances, and integrate local knowledge and interests into project constellations.
Beside the different panel discussions, the conference featured an interactive tool presentation, during which UNITAC and City Science Lab showcased their inspiring work and provided practical insights into innovative tech solutions
“Technology plays a pivotal role in urban development, offering innovative solutions to reduce social and spatial inequalities in cities. The UN OICT is committed to supporting the International Guidelines on People-Centre Smart Cities, by providing data technologies and governance to ensure sustainable, inclusive, and prosperous urban environments” says Michael Ibach, Chief of Service, ICT Policy and Compliance
The second keynote by Nancy Odendaal from the University of Cape Town, "Cultivating a Sense of Place through Inclusive Smart Strategies," offered an alternative view on the ‘smart city’ narrative, emphasizing the importance of locally driven digital disruption and augmented place-making for inclusive smart urbanism.
Each day of the conference concluded with a lively recap panel, where the day's keynote speaker and panel moderators, along with the Critical Friend, came together to synthesize key findings for the guidelines.
Conference day 2
The second day continued with the momentum, starting with a panel on Representing which addressed the challenges of "missing data" and the resulting epistemic injustice. Discussions centered on how to collect and integrate missing data into the broader data ecosystem to benefit local communities and ensure the representation of disadvantaged groups.
The third keynote by David Nemer from the University of Virginia, "Lessons from Favelas: Embracing Mundane Technologies for a More Humane City," highlighted how marginalized communities in Brazilian favelas use everyday technologies to navigate and resist sources of oppression. David's keynote underscored the importance of designing humane city initiatives that truly include and empower marginalized communities.
The day concluded with a panel on Implementing which focused on addressing specific social inequities through urban tech projects. Participants discussed the generation of actionable knowledge and the key factors necessary for effective implementation and long-term impact
Conference day 3
The third, and final, day of the conference featured a panel on Maintaining which emphasized the importance of cooperation with local stakeholders for the uptake and maintenance of technologies. Discussions revolved around creating trust, ownership, and responsibility to ensure the long-term use and adaptation of technologies to evolving needs. Participants explored strategies for building collaborative partnerships and community engagement to sustain urban technologies beyond the initial project phase
At its core the "Urban Tech for Equity" conference provided critical insights from academia for UN-Habitat’s International Guidelines on People-Centred Smart Cities. It served as a melting pot of diverse viewpoints, uniting international researchers and practitioners to share experiences and explore innovative approaches on how data-driven urban technologies can reduce social inequality. By fostering collaboration and dialogue, the conference outcomes will directly contribute to the development of these guidelines.
Full programme can be accessed here.
Visit this link to view the post conference report.
For questions, comments or feedback, send a message to unitac@un.org
We extend our gratitude to all participants: for their invaluable contributions, for presenting, for moderating, for generously sharing their knowledge and experiences, and insights of their research:
The available presentations can be found here.
The keynote presentations can be found here.
Access our partner video statements here.