Walking in the datafied city: Exploring strategies and tactics that shape the agency of ordinary citizens in public space

Abstract

Data-driven activities impact walkers in public space. Ordinary citizens who are an organic part of the city cannot be expected to inform themselves about novel data-driven processes that shape where and how their data is collected while they walk. They are inert to the activities that companies or municipalities execute regarding their data, but to change this, they should have access to information about the processes that impact them in the city, such as where their data is collected or how it is utilized. The analysis considers this through the framework of Michel de Certeau on “strategies and tactics”; how strategies impose on public space and walking, and what tools ordinary citizens need to strengthen their agency regarding these developments, in the form of tactics. The analysis includes data collected at data walks organized at the Utrecht Data School, and an investigation of technologies in public space that impact walking, such as urban dashboards and Google Maps AR. It concludes that strategies impose on walking both for purposes of regulation, but also commercial mapping applications that collect location data. As a solution, visibility is key to inform citizens about where their data is collected and to utilize technologies that function to inform citizens about processes that impact their agency in public space. Regarding tactics as tools that citizens can utilize, walking in the form of data walking is a useful one, because it makes participants critical and aware of data-driven developments in public space.