Urban Socio-Technical Systems: An Autonomy and Mobility Perspective

TL;DR

This paper discusses the transformation of urban areas into complex socio-technical systems driven by increasing autonomy and machine intelligence, emphasizing their impact on urban mobility and societal development.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive overview of urban socio-technical systems focusing on autonomy and mobility, highlighting new challenges and opportunities in future city development.

Findings

Urban populations are projected to reach 70% by 2050.

Cities are evolving into fusion systems of humans, machines, and algorithms.

Autonomy significantly influences urban mobility and socio-economic dynamics.

Abstract

The future of the human race is urban. The world's population is projected to grow an additional 2.5 billion by 2050, with all expected to live in urban areas. This will increase the percentage of urban population from 55% today to 70% within three decades and further strengthen the role of cities as the hub for information, transportation, and overall socio-economic development. Unlike any other time in human history, the increasing levels of autonomy and machine intelligence are transforming cities to be no longer just human agglomerations but a fusion of humans, machines, and algorithms making collective decisions, thus complex socio-technical systems. This manuscript summarizes and discusses my efforts from the urban autonomy and mobility perspective to develop the urban socio-technical system.