I really enjoyed reading this blog post on digital tools in city-making. You explained the topic in a very clear and engaging way, especially by focusing on Instagram carousels as a tool for sharing ideas about cities. It’s interesting how something we usually see as entertainment or social media can actually play a role in shaping how people understand urban spaces, design, and everyday life in cities.
I liked how you showed that Instagram is not just about pretty images, but also about storytelling, awareness, and participation. The way carousels can break down complex urban topics into small, easy-to-digest slides makes them accessible to a much wider audience. This is especially important for people who may not have a background in architecture or urban planning but still live in and experience these cities every day.
Digital Tools in City-Making: Instagram Carousel
The process of city-making shaped by digital tools is a wide-ranging topic, including digital mapping via GIS and sensors, and participatory platforms enabling people to be involved. The promised efficiency and real-time insights of these tools can also make things worse if datasets exclude marginalised communities and decision-making is based on commercial interests instead of public needs.
The project of Sidewalk Labs in Toronto is a living example of how smart-city development can conflict with spatial justice when the inhabitants are excluded from matters relating to data and governance. On the flip side, community-based mapping in Kibera is an example of how digital tools can bring about greater visibility, empower the locals, and open resource access. This raises the question of whether technology supports or challenges spatial injustice.
This blog refers to the Instagram carousel, which examines:
How digital tools influence urban planning, data control, and community power
Whether smart cities deepen existing inequalities or reduce them
Who gains and who gets neglected when decision-making becomes technology-driven
The role of citizen participation, transparency and community ownership in ensuring spatial justice
Key takeaways from the carousel:
Digital tools are not neutral, they reflect whoever designs and controls them.
Smart doesn’t always mean fair, efficiency can come at the expense of inclusivity.
Smart innovation now relies on public participation. technology alone is not enough.
Community-generated data can rebalance power, making informal settlements “visible” is political.
Ultimately, a city is not truly smart unless technology supports democratic decision-making.
References:
Cardullo, P. and Kitchin, R. (2019) ‘Being a “citizen” in the smart city: Up and down the scaffold of smart citizen participation’, GeoJournal, 84(1), pp. 1–13.
Houghton, K. (2015) Map Kibera: Empowering slum residents through digital mapping. Available at: https://mapkibera.org (Accessed: 20 November 2025).
Kitchin, R. (2016) ‘The ethics of smart cities and urban science’, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A, 374(2083), pp. 1–15.
Shelton, T., Zook, M. and Wiig, A. (2015) ‘The “actually existing smart city”’, Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society, 8(1), pp. 13–25.
List of figures:
ESRI (2020) CityEngine 3D futuristic city model visualization. ESRI CityEngine. Available at: https://www.esri.com/cityengine (Accessed: 20 November 2025). © ESRI.
Map Kibera Project (2019) Village boundaries and settlements map of Kibera, Nairobi. MapKibera.org / ResearchGate. Available at: https://mapkibera.org (Accessed: 20 November 2025). Academic reuse permitted.
Sidewalk Labs (2019) Toronto Quayside smart city masterplan rendering. Sidewalk Toronto. Available at: https://www.sidewalklabs.com (Accessed: 20 November 2025). © Sidewalk Labs.
VectorStock (n.d.) White cartoon robot with blue question mark illustration. VectorStock.com. Available at: https://www.vectorstock.com/royalty-free-vector/white-robot-cartoon-with-blue-question-mark-vector-33299328 (Accessed: 20 November 2025). Licensed for commercial and academic use.
Vecteezy (n.d.) Digital smart city technology background. Vecteezy.com. Available at: https://www.vecteezy.com (Accessed: 20 November 2025). Licensed under Vecteezy Free License—attribution required.
Vieira, T. (2004) Panoramic view of Rocinha favela, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Wikimedia Commons. Available at: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Rocinha_-_Rio_de_Janeiro,_Brazil.jpg (Accessed: 20 November 2025). Licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
You can view the Digital Tools in City-Making Carousel on Instagram here: https://instagram.com/p/DRcfZTGjKuh/
I really enjoyed reading this blog post on digital tools in city-making. You explained the topic in a very clear and engaging way, especially by focusing on Instagram carousels as a tool for sharing ideas about cities. It’s interesting how something we usually see as entertainment or social media can actually play a role in shaping how people understand urban spaces, design, and everyday life in cities.
I liked how you showed that Instagram is not just about pretty images, but also about storytelling, awareness, and participation. The way carousels can break down complex urban topics into small, easy-to-digest slides makes them accessible to a much wider audience. This is especially important for people who may not have a background in architecture or urban planning but still live in and experience these cities every day.