Insights/Opinion: Promoting Urban Studies and Practice with Emerging Technologies: City Laboratory, New City, and Future City Exploration

Abstract

The Fourth Industrial Revolution, marked by emerging/disruptive technologies like mobile internet, big data, robotics, artificial intelligence (AI), immersive media (VR/AR/MR), and the Internet of Things (IoT), is transforming cities and promoting urban development. This paper argues that these technologies foster urban studies and implementation in three pathways: methodology, epistemology, and practice. First, the new data environment offers a foundation for quantitative and objective urban studies, enabling researchers to treat cities as laboratories and conduct city experiments worldwide. Second, emerging technologies are reshaping contemporary urban life and space, promoting the update of urban theories. Third, these technologies are expected to be applied as new elements in the urban planning and design processes to create smart urban spatial forms that cater to contemporary needs. Overall, this paper highlights the potential significance of emerging technologies for urban research and development in terms of research methods and data support, theoretical updates and iterations, and practical urban planning and design.