Federico Caprotti
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View article: Urban innovation in the informal city: overlapping infrastructures, co-production and sector coupling in a South African informal settlement
Urban innovation in the informal city: overlapping infrastructures, co-production and sector coupling in a South African informal settlement Open
Informal settlements face significant infrastructural challenges, exemplified by limited electricity access in sub-Saharan Africa. We present insights from a 2020–23 research program in a South African informal settlement that highlighted …
View article: The nature of AI: Metabolism, energy, water, labour and justice in the urban political ecology of artificial intelligence
The nature of AI: Metabolism, energy, water, labour and justice in the urban political ecology of artificial intelligence Open
The integration of vast volumes of Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology into the built environment is changing the metabolism of urban spaces. Due to the presence of various AIs in urban systems, there are now more agentic forces influe…
View article: Service-based off-grid solar for productive use in poor urban settings: insights from an informal settlement in Cape Town, South Africa
Service-based off-grid solar for productive use in poor urban settings: insights from an informal settlement in Cape Town, South Africa Open
The productive use of energy (PUE) is a critical pathway to development, as it enhances productivity and facilitates income-generating activities. However, PUE is little understood in low-resource urban settings in the context of off-grid …
View article: The 15-minute city as paranoid urbanism: Ten critical reflections
The 15-minute city as paranoid urbanism: Ten critical reflections Open
The 15-minute city has emerged as a key urban development theme in recent years, and especially since the Covid-19 pandemic. It has also become a focus point for tensions and debates over future urban trajectories, including over the role …
View article: Variegated Platform Urbanism: Social Credit and the City
Variegated Platform Urbanism: Social Credit and the City Open
The development of a digital social credit system in China has sparked debates around urban governance and citizenship performance. Although China’s social credit system is portrayed as a single technical system, the article offers a new p…
View article: Wellbeing, infrastructures, and energy insecurity in informal settlements
Wellbeing, infrastructures, and energy insecurity in informal settlements Open
Introduction Understanding the intricate relationship between energy and wellbeing in informal urban settlements is essential for developing effective interventions that address the diverse needs of residents. This paper explores this nexu…
View article: Why does urban Artificial Intelligence (AI) matter for urban studies? Developing research directions in urban AI research
Why does urban Artificial Intelligence (AI) matter for urban studies? Developing research directions in urban AI research Open
New digital technologies and systems are being extensively applied in urban contexts. These technologies and systems include algorithms, robotics, drones, Autonomous Vehicles (AVs) and autonomous systems that can collectively be labelled a…
View article: “Don't cook or iron with it”: Heterogeneities and coping strategies for accessing and using electricity in the informal settlements of Kampala, Uganda
“Don't cook or iron with it”: Heterogeneities and coping strategies for accessing and using electricity in the informal settlements of Kampala, Uganda Open
This is the final version. Available on open access from Elsevier via the DOI in this record
View article: The Smartmentality of Urban Data Politics: Evidence from Two Chinese Cities
The Smartmentality of Urban Data Politics: Evidence from Two Chinese Cities Open
China's Social Credit System (SCS) has attracted significant media and scholarly attention since the late 2010s. It is an emerging practice based on digital platforms linked to smart city development. In this chapter, we argue that interme…
View article: The Smartmentality of Urban Data Politics: Evidence from Two Chinese Cities
The Smartmentality of Urban Data Politics: Evidence from Two Chinese Cities Open
China's Social Credit System (SCS) has attracted significant media and scholarly attention since the late 2010s. It is an emerging practice based on digital platforms linked to smart city development. In this chapter, we argue that interme…
View article: The rise of AI urbanism in post-smart cities: A critical commentary on urban artificial intelligence
The rise of AI urbanism in post-smart cities: A critical commentary on urban artificial intelligence Open
Artificial intelligence (AI) is emerging as an impactful feature of the life, planning and governance of 21st-century cities. Once confined to the realm of science fiction and small-scale technological experiments, AI is now all around us,…
View article: Introducing AI into urban studies
Introducing AI into urban studies Open
Innovation in artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming cities in unprecedented ways. In this chapter, we unpack the connections between AI and the urban by introducing the concept of urban AI and reflecting on its most prominent incarn…
View article: The ‘capability’ of South African energy governance to deliver urban sustainable transitions
The ‘capability’ of South African energy governance to deliver urban sustainable transitions Open
Critical to the trajectory and outcome of urban sustainable energy transitions is the ability of government institutions to foster conditions for change and innovation. In this paper, a theoretical perspective combining state power and loc…
View article: Beyond the Grid: The Micropolitics of <scp>Off‐Grid</scp> Energy in <scp>Qandu‐Qandu</scp>, South Africa
Beyond the Grid: The Micropolitics of <span>Off‐Grid</span> Energy in <span>Qandu‐Qandu</span>, South Africa Open
In this paper, we argue using smart technologies beyond the grid disrupts the access and use of existing energy sources, with profound impacts on everyday social life. We show how off‐grid smart energy solutions constitute their own politi…
View article: Smart and disruptive infrastructures: Re-building knowledge on the informal city
Smart and disruptive infrastructures: Re-building knowledge on the informal city Open
Smart urbanism is an established research area in geography and the social sciences. We draw on ‘worlding-provincialising’ strategies identified in an Urban Studies Special Issue from February 2021 to explore how smart infrastructures, a f…
View article: Does basic off-grid energy access improve well-being in off-grid informal settlements? A field experiment with off-grid solar power in Cape Town
Does basic off-grid energy access improve well-being in off-grid informal settlements? A field experiment with off-grid solar power in Cape Town Open
A major national challenge in South Africa is the continuous and sustainable provision of energy throughout various settlement regions. This research was conducted to examine the impact of clean energy access on the well-being of people th…
View article: Solar energy at the peri-urban frontier: An energy justice study of urban peripheries from Burkina Faso and South Africa
Solar energy at the peri-urban frontier: An energy justice study of urban peripheries from Burkina Faso and South Africa Open
This is the final version. Available on open access from Elsevier via the DOI in this record
View article: The socioenvironmental state and urban transitions: Eco-urbanism in China and the UK
The socioenvironmental state and urban transitions: Eco-urbanism in China and the UK Open
Eco-urbanism encapsulates a range of approaches to the management of urbanisation processes and environmental imperatives in contexts of rapid industrial and economic change. The paper focuses on two eco-urban initiatives in China and the …
View article: Rethinking the off-grid city
Rethinking the off-grid city Open
This is the final version. Available on open access from Routledge via the DOI in this record
View article: ‘Candles are not bright enough’
‘Candles are not bright enough’ Open
In this chapter, we discuss the key issue of how to envisage a just, fair and equitable energy transformation in the South African context. We argue that the move towards a new energy landscape cannot simply be described as a transition, b…
View article: Scales of governance: Translating multiscalar transitional pathways in South Africa’s energy landscape
Scales of governance: Translating multiscalar transitional pathways in South Africa’s energy landscape Open
In this paper, we argue for a multiscalar focus on the governance of energy policy and practice. This perspective reveals the translation of agendas and policies across scales stretching from the global to the local. We analyse South Afric…
View article: The Routledge Companion to Smart Cities
The Routledge Companion to Smart Cities Open
The volume explores the question of what it means for a city to be 'smart', raises some of the tensions emerging in smart city developments, and considers the implications for future ways of inhabiting and understanding the urban condition…
View article: Emerging platform urbanism in China: Reconfigurations of data, citizenship and materialities
Emerging platform urbanism in China: Reconfigurations of data, citizenship and materialities Open
This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Elsevier via the DOI in this record.