For many developing cities the “smart city” is still a chimera. International technological models, whether idealised or unattainable, are somewhat at odds with the realities of urbanisation in countries of the Global South. However, be it applications for on-demand waste collection, participatory mapping of precarious neighbourhoods, incubators and informal fablabs, online citizen media, etc., the effects of digital technologies are particularly strongly felt in the ways private actors and individuals use them, outside the realm of public action. Digital tools provide opportunities to renew urban management and put it more in touch with on-the-ground realities. What is needed is a new way of running projects and local policies with and for digital tools so as to drive sustainable and inclusive urban development.
