New Article: Human rights and the Smarter City

Martha F. Davis, Alejandro Jaramillo Jimenez,  Kimberly D. Lucas and Annabel Shu, Human Rights and the Smarter City, Open Global Rights (July 1, 2025)

This article argues for a better approach to ensuring human rights in “smart cities” across the United States, highlighting Boston in particular.  Boston is exploring how to become a “smart city,” a place where residents are involved in decisions, privacy is protected, and technology works for everyone. Boston is the first in the United States to have a local government innovation office for this purpose. There are, however, human rights concerns that often accompany smart city campaigns. This article argues for a bottom-up approach, providing human rights-informed processes for public involvement and feedback, and prioritizing human rights obligations. Read the article here.