Bottom-up urban datafication via digital platforms: a toolkit for hybrid ethnographers
The literature on the digitalisation of urban life and its datafication has largely centred on top-down approaches to data production, especially within the realms of smart cities and platform urbanism. This article seeks to shift that perspective, contributing to the relatively limited body of work...
Uloženo v:
| Vydáno v: | URI:https://journals.openedition.org/netcom, |
|---|---|
| Hlavní autor: | |
| Médium: | Article ou chapitre numérique |
| Vydáno: |
Netcom
2025
|
| Témata: | |
| On-line přístup: | Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM |
| id |
openedition-oai:revues.org:netcom_9138 |
|---|---|
| record_format |
openedition |
| collection |
OpenEdition Journal |
| format |
Article ou chapitre numérique |
| building |
0/Bibliothèque numérique/ 1/Bibliothèque numérique/OpenEdition Journals/ |
| topic |
Plateformes numériques Ethnographie hybride Numérisation de la vie urbaine Datafication bottom-up Hybrid Ethnography Urban Life Digitalisation Digital Platforms Bottom-Up Datafication |
| spellingShingle |
Plateformes numériques Ethnographie hybride Numérisation de la vie urbaine Datafication bottom-up Hybrid Ethnography Urban Life Digitalisation Digital Platforms Bottom-Up Datafication Alzola, Nerea Viana Bottom-up urban datafication via digital platforms: a toolkit for hybrid ethnographers |
| description |
The literature on the digitalisation of urban life and its datafication has largely centred on top-down approaches to data production, especially within the realms of smart cities and platform urbanism. This article seeks to shift that perspective, contributing to the relatively limited body of work on bottom-up datafication, where ordinary people drive data production in today’s digital and mobile times. Specifically, it delves into how ethnographic toolkits are being reimagined to navigate this knowledge production process within the ‘hybrid city’ paradigm, where digital platforms are pervasive in everyday life.Following the ‘Ethnography’s Kitchen’ format, this study highlights both descriptive and analytical reflexivity, offering practical insights by sharing my personal toolkit. It presents four analytical tools –spatial mapping for discovery, writing for access, self-presentation for positionality, and archiving and monitoring for data collection – supported by empirical evidence drawn from fieldwork in Hamamatsu, Japan and Geneva, Switzerland.The empirical evidence emphasises the pivotal role of reflexivity in hybrid urban ethnography, particularly in grappling with the epistemological challenges posed by the digitalisation of urban life and the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into research practices. By offering practical examples and methodological reflections, this article aspires to inspire urban ethnographers to adopt hybrid methodologies, thus fostering a deeper connection to the complexities of contemporary urban dynamics. |
| author |
Alzola, Nerea Viana |
| author_facet |
Alzola, Nerea Viana |
| author_sort |
Alzola, Nerea Viana |
| title |
Bottom-up urban datafication via digital platforms: a toolkit for hybrid ethnographers |
| title_short |
Bottom-up urban datafication via digital platforms: a toolkit for hybrid ethnographers |
| title_full |
Bottom-up urban datafication via digital platforms: a toolkit for hybrid ethnographers |
| title_fullStr |
Bottom-up urban datafication via digital platforms: a toolkit for hybrid ethnographers |
| title_full_unstemmed |
Bottom-up urban datafication via digital platforms: a toolkit for hybrid ethnographers |
| title_sort |
bottom-up urban datafication via digital platforms: a toolkit for hybrid ethnographers |
| publisher |
Netcom |
| publishDate |
2025 |
| container_title |
URI:https://journals.openedition.org/netcom |
| url |
https://ezproxy.univ-orleans.fr/login?url=https://doi.org/10.4000/12erg https://ezproxy.univ-orleans.fr/login?url=https://journals.openedition.org/netcom/9138 |
| _version_ |
1877292127172427776 |
| spelling |
openedition-oai:revues.org:netcom_9138 https://doi.org/10.4000/12erg urn:doi:10.4000/12erg https://journals.openedition.org/netcom/9138 2025-02-11T01:00:00Z info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess article info:eu-repo/semantics/article urn:handle:20.500.13089/12erg https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ Bottom-up urban datafication via digital platforms: a toolkit for hybrid ethnographers Netcom Netcom Association info:eu-repo/semantics/reference/issn/2431-210X info:eu-repo/semantics/reference/issn/0987-6014 URI:https://journals.openedition.org/netcom Alzola, Nerea Viana Plateformes numériques Ethnographie hybride Numérisation de la vie urbaine Datafication bottom-up Hybrid Ethnography Urban Life Digitalisation Digital Platforms Bottom-Up Datafication The literature on the digitalisation of urban life and its datafication has largely centred on top-down approaches to data production, especially within the realms of smart cities and platform urbanism. This article seeks to shift that perspective, contributing to the relatively limited body of work on bottom-up datafication, where ordinary people drive data production in today’s digital and mobile times. Specifically, it delves into how ethnographic toolkits are being reimagined to navigate this knowledge production process within the ‘hybrid city’ paradigm, where digital platforms are pervasive in everyday life.Following the ‘Ethnography’s Kitchen’ format, this study highlights both descriptive and analytical reflexivity, offering practical insights by sharing my personal toolkit. It presents four analytical tools –spatial mapping for discovery, writing for access, self-presentation for positionality, and archiving and monitoring for data collection – supported by empirical evidence drawn from fieldwork in Hamamatsu, Japan and Geneva, Switzerland.The empirical evidence emphasises the pivotal role of reflexivity in hybrid urban ethnography, particularly in grappling with the epistemological challenges posed by the digitalisation of urban life and the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into research practices. By offering practical examples and methodological reflections, this article aspires to inspire urban ethnographers to adopt hybrid methodologies, thus fostering a deeper connection to the complexities of contemporary urban dynamics. La littérature sur la numérisation de la vie urbaine et sa datafication s'est largement concentrée sur des approches top-down de production de données, notamment dans le cadre des villes intelligentes et du platform urbanism. Cet article vise à changer cette orientation en contribuant au corpus relativement limité de travaux sur la datafication bottom-up, où les personnes ordinaires sont à l'origine de la production de données dans notre époque de mobilité numérique. Plus précisément, il explore comment les outils ethnographiques sont réinventés pour naviguer dans ce processus de production de connaissances au sein du paradigme de la « ville hybride », où les plateformes numériques imprègnent la vie quotidienne.En suivant le format de « l'Ethnography's Kitchen », cette étude met en avant à la fois la réflexivité descriptive et analytique, et en offrant des perspectives pratiques par le partage de mon propre ensemble d'outils. Elle présente quatre outils analytiques – la cartographie spatiale pour la découverte, l'écriture pour l'accès, la présentation de soi pour la positionalité, et l'archivage et le suivi pour la collecte de données – soutenus par des preuves empiriques tirées de travaux de terrain réalisés à Hamamatsu, au Japon, et à Genève, en Suisse.Les données empiriques soulignent le rôle central de la réflexivité dans l'ethnographie urbaine hybride, en particulier face aux défis épistémologiques posés par la numérisation de la vie urbaine et l'intégration de l'IA dans les pratiques de recherche. En proposant des exemples concrets et des réflexions méthodologiques, cet article aspire à inspirer les ethnographes urbains à adopter des méthodologies hybrides, favorisant une compréhension plus profonde des complexités des dynamiques urbaines contemporaines. |