Provocation 3 by Irene Huang

Cities as Platforms of Power

irenehuang126 — 2025-04-09 12:01:10 UTC

In the urban technology systems you interact with daily (bike sharing, bus apps, map positioning, etc.), have you ever felt a "platform" dominated experience? Is this experience convenience, or control?

Name a city technology platform and say who controls it. What daily decisions does it affect?

Natalie, Lanni, Ian

2025-04-11 01:36:31 UTC

Google map:

google controls the app
it affects the navigation of going to places, where to go, and how to go by providing different transportation options such as buses, trains or personal vehicles.

Mia Chen Regina Zhang

yirongc653 — 2025-04-11 01:39:41 UTC

Social media platforms

Such as Facebook and Weibo are controlled by the corresponding technology companies, which determine content recommendation algorithms, how user data is used and storage.

Yi Bian, Haitian Zhu

ybian955 — 2025-04-11 01:41:08 UTC

Lately I’ve noticed how many CCTV cameras there are in the city, especially with facial recognition. At first I thought they were just for safety, but now I realise they actually change how I act in public.

Even when I’m doing nothing wrong, I feel like I have to behave a certain way because I know I’m being watched.

It doesn’t really feel like convenience — it feels more like control. I don’t get to choose if I’m part of it, but it still affects me. That makes me question how “free” public space really is.

Xianlong Wang, Cai

2025-04-11 01:46:22 UTC

Google Maps is the navigation software used by most people. Nowadays, we don’t need maps or original directions to confirm the place we want to go, which greatly facilitates our travel. However, this software is also controlled by Google. There may be some goal-oriented guidance that makes us unconsciously guided to where is the most popular and worth going (the company wants us to think).