Characterised as the Fourth Industrial
Revolution, AI is envisioned to reshape
urban socio-technical interactions and
drive solutions to the world’s ‘grand
challenges.’ Despite this foresight, there
is an absence of qualitative studies that
critically engage with the intersection
between AI, sustainable development,
cities, and the Global South. This
represents an urgent research gap due to
the synonymity of ‘digitalisation-asurbanisation’
in the Global South, the
acceleration of urban AI deployment, and
the international pursuit of the SDGs.
Through primary interviews with
scholars and corporate AI technologists
and secondary case study research, this
thesis addresses the question of AI’s
impact on urban inclusion and urban
environmental sustainability. Based on
primary, qualitative data analysis, this
paper’s thematic data map establishes the
key determinants of AI’s impact on
sustainable urban development in the
Global South as follows: Access,
Representation, Privacy, Experimentation
vs Regulation, Agency and Efficiency.
These primary findings were then
mobilised to analyse secondary case
studies of urban AI deployment for
security, urban planning, citizen services,
2
and DRM across Global South cities (e.g.
Johannesburg, Hyderabad, and Buenos
Aires). In terms of urban inclusion, this
paper concludes that AI in its current
form risks the exacerbation of preexisting
social injustices due to data and
infrastructural inequity and unethical
surveillance practices that impacts urban
service provision and spatial access. In
terms of urban environmental
sustainability, this paper argues that AI’s
capacity for innovative urban climate
action will only be sustainable if its
carbon and water footprint is proactively
addressed and the digital divide is
bridged.
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