Resources for Cities
We collaborate with city governments to plan for the impacts and opportunities of AI adoption, affecting residents, businesses, municipal services, and the quality of democracy.
Developing Municipal AI Strategies
Impact of AI on communities: The increasing uptake of AI by businesses and other organizations will have implications for jobs, social outcomes, and access to resources. How do cities assess both opportunities and impacts, and prepare their residents?
Government use of AI: As municipalities face a constellation of possibilities with AI tools and methods, how do they make wise choices about when and where to deploy AI tools, how to select and obtain these "urban solutions," and how to ensure they deliver public benefits?
Joining the AI conversation: What unique points of leverage do municipalities have, to go beyond accepting urban solutions as "customers," and help to shape these tools?
Civic Infrastructure & Public Trust: What physical hardware, data needs, and social policies and programs are needed to support the city's residents in adapting to a future with more AI deployment in business and government?
Putting it all together: We work with cities to plan a multi-faceted strategy that addresses these different dimensions, so they can better balance between efficiency, human rights and autonomy, and social well-being. We collaborate with private sector solutions providers, local governments and public agencies, and civic groups to discuss best practice and build capacity.
Interested in collaborating?
AI & Cities White Paper
AI will Transform Cities.
Can Cities Transform AI?
Jinhua Zhao, J. Phillip Thompson, Ross Gittell, Michael Leong, and Kevin F. Hsu
The growing use of artificial intelligence (AI) promises to usher in enormous change to people’s lives, affecting livelihoods and government services, and even altering the social fabric of our cities. Municipal governments face a complex set of pressures in navigating these changes: they can greatly benefit from AI’s immense potential to improve public services, generate economic growth, and empower residents and businesses.
At the same time, local governments are on the frontlines if widespread use or misuse of AI technologies cause harms. In history, cities have always borne the social, economic, political, cultural and environmental impacts arising from technological change. As AI use surges, city leaders will inevitably be called upon to safeguard their constituents, even as major corporations and national governments drive critical decisions about technology. In national and international AI policy discussions, cities are consistently overlooked—an oversight that must be corrected.
Local government’s focus on practical challenges of implementation and daily interactions with the public give rise to unique insights and strategic leverage in AI governance conversations. Cities cannot remain passive bystanders in AI transformation; they must take an active role in guiding these nascent technologies toward beneficial use that improve human welfare, strengthen democracy, and enhance quality of life for all.
AI will Transform Cities. Can Cities Transform AI?
Jinhua Zhao, J. Phillip Thompson, Ross Gittell, Michael Leong, and Kevin F. Hsu