Digital city or urban simulator?

Abstract

Much has been said in Europe about the ‘digital city’ phenomenon. However, we should question about the actual progress that these sites have made in these five years, as well as about the direction and trend of this progress. New powerful functionality is available to the digital city that could facilitate the establishment of collaborative, communicative and inclusive virtual environments. But can we really recognise a trend towards increased public participation in European cities, as a direct consequence of digital city development? This paper argues that this is not the case at the moment. To build more effective urban information systems we need to involve a plurality of actors in the design of virtual cities, and link digital developments to more traditional activities and initiatives that aim at enhancing public participation.