How the digital giants want to govern our cities

The making and management of cities are today faced, like many other activities, with the replacement of human decisions by algorithmic decisions. The problem with the city is that the substitution is not only technical and professional: it is also political. It does not only affect trades and jobs; it affects the ability of local leaders and citizens to think about and carry out social projects. A major confrontation is therefore underway between the political city, the historical matrix of Western democracies, and the digitized service city proposed by the giants of the digital economy such as Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon, Uber and the thousands of start-ups that revolve around these companies. These have a common objective: to take dominant positions in urban markets (housing, transport, municipal services) which constitute more than a third of household expenditure. If our society has become aware of the growing influence of actors in the digital economy on its choices, it hesitates between fascination with promises of "salvation through technology" and fear of a world placed under general surveillance. . Taking the example of cities and local democracy, Jean Haëntjens explains to us that the future is not to be hoped for or feared, but to be conquered. The first essay that raises the question of the role and influence of GAFA in the City