Journal article
Democratizing Traffic Control in Smart Cities
Transportation Research Part C: Emerging Technologies 2024
TL;DR
This paper connects traffic optimization with democratic decision mechanisms. It argues that smart-city infrastructure should account for public preferences instead of optimizing mobility only through centralized technical objectives.
Why It Matters
Traffic control is a concrete example of algorithmic governance: routing and signal choices affect people differently. The paper makes democratic control part of the optimization problem.
Abstract
A decentralized approach to traffic optimization that embeds democratic decision mechanisms into smart city infrastructures.
Paper Content
Core Contribution
This paper argues that traffic control is not only a technical optimization problem. Because traffic decisions distribute costs and benefits across residents, commuters, neighborhoods, and public space, smart-city systems should account for democratic preferences alongside efficiency.
Research Use
The paper connects transportation research with algorithmic governance. It is relevant for researchers working on decentralized traffic optimization, smart-city infrastructure, participatory control systems, and democratic oversight of urban algorithms.