Where Things Stand in Platform Urbanism: Controversy Over MDS and Possible Futures Although cities have exerted new leverage and disrupted the existing philanthropy model of the platform data sharing status quo, it is not yet clear what new model might emerge. Platforms and privacy advocates have mobilized against the mobility data specification and the LADOT vision for mandated local government access to data in the public right of way now advanced by the Open Mobility Foundation and its members. While it remains unclear if the factors that led cities to this approach in the micromobility context are generalizable to other domains, OMF is already advancing new data sharing standards for the curb in the Curb Data Specification (CDS). New technologies like drones, delivery robots, and autonomous vehicles are coming to cities, as are new platforms. It is clear that there has never been a more urgent need for an effective framework to allow platforms to operate in cities in ways that are transparent to regulators and accountable to community and democratic interests. But while the need has never been greater the vision has perhaps never been more contested. The future of the smart city is up for grabs and data sharing mandates just might play a key role in shaping it.
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Towards Urban Data Commons? On the Origins and Significance of Platform Data Sharing Mandates
