Platform urbanism and the Chinese smart city: the co-production and territorialisation of Hangzhou City Brain

Abstract

We analyse an urban platform (Alibaba’s City Brain) to show how smart city development is evolving in urban China. In order to do so, we base our analysis on two strands of literature: that on platform urbanism, and on the experimental city. The paper identifies two processes that are shared across both bodies of work on platform urbanism and experimental cities: relational co-production and territorialisation. These processes can also be applied to the case of City Brain as both a platform and an urban experiment. We conclude by reflecting on the significance of urban platforms on the co-production of data-enabled urban governance; local urban context; and citizenship.