Urban indicators and dashboards:
epistemology, contradictions and
power/knowledge |
Kitchin, Rob; Lauriault, Tracey P.; McArdle, Gavin
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The three commentaries to our paper provide some interesting complementarities to our
arguments and we would like to thank the authors for taking the time to read and
comment on our work. Although coming from quite different perspectives, Mike Batty
as an urban modeller and planner and Matt Wilson as a critical geographical information
system (GIS) theorist, largely support our concerns around urban indicator and dashboard
projects: that they have certain technical and epistemological shortcomings and
are often used to support particular interests. Whilst Batty cautions as to how indicators
and dashboard might be used, reframed technically and supplemented by more sophisticated
modelling, Wilson is more concerned with how such projects are framed socially
and economically as tools of capital accumulation. Neither provide analysis with which
we particularly disagree. In contrast, Meg Holden and Sara Moreno Pires, while they
recognize many of the issues we discuss, provide a critique of our analysis and a
defence of indicator and dashboards as presently conceived and practised. Their commentary
demonstrates to us how those who have vested a lot of time and effort into
indicator and dashboard projects might misread and react to our argument, defending
such projects without fully grasping our critique and the alternative epistemology we
forwarded, or our own position within the indicator and dashboard landscape. The rest
of this response, therefore, concentrates on their commentary.
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Keyword(s):
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Geography; NIRSA-National Institute for Regional and Spatial Analysis; urban indicators; dashboards; epistemology; Dublin Dashboard; All-Island Research Observatory; The Atlas of the Risk of Homelessness; MunicipalData.ca |
Publication Date:
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2015 |
Type:
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Journal article |
Peer-Reviewed:
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Yes |
Institution:
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Maynooth University |
Citation(s):
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Kitchin, Rob and Lauriault, Tracey P. and McArdle, Gavin (2015) Urban indicators and dashboards: epistemology, contradictions and power/knowledge. Regional Studies, Regional Science, 2 (1). pp. 43-45. ISSN 2168-1376 |
Publisher(s):
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Routledge |
File Format(s):
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other |
Related Link(s):
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http://mural.maynoothuniversity.ie/6021/1/RK_urban-indicators.pdf |
First Indexed:
2020-01-31 06:21:48 Last Updated:
2020-04-02 06:52:59 |