No. 3 (2025)
Safety in urban contexts and new fears between perception, innovation and inclusion

3/2025

The scrutinised city. Governance and inequalities in urban digital ecosystems

Published 2025-11-09

  • Rosario Palese
    • ,
  • Giovanna Truda

Rosario Palese
Universidad de Salamanca

Giovanna Truda
Università degli Studi di Salerno

Abstract

Urban digitalization configures a governance paradigm that simultaneously redefines administrative efficiency and social stratification. Through an interdisciplinary analysis that integrates European and Italian empirical data, this contribution problematizes the techno-deterministic assumption of digital neutrality, highlighting how the emergence of the “surveilled city” generates new forms of territorial and social inequality. The integration of pervasive surveillance systems, predictive algorithms, and 5G infrastructure configures complex socio-technical ecosystems that amplify pre-existing disparities rather than democratizing access. Analysis of ICR 2024 data documents significant North-South asymmetries in digital skills and technological implementation, while European regulatory frameworks (GDPR, ISO standards) prove inadequate to govern emerging complexity. The research outlines the necessity for innovative methodological approaches that balance operational efficiency, protection of fundamental rights, and territorial inclusion, positioning algorithmic governance as a democratic imperative for contemporary urban ecosystems.

Keywords

Surveilled City, Algorithmic Governance, Socio-technical Ecosystems, Digital Apartheid, Urban Digitalization

PDF (Italian)

Author Biography

Giovanna Truda

Giovanna Truda (Salerno, 1970) is Professor of Sociology of Law, Sociology of Deviance, and Sociology of Gender Policies at the University of Salerno. In 2023 she was a Visiting Academic in the Department of Sociology at the University of Oxford (UK). Since 2024, she has been a member of the Comité de recherche “Études socio-juridiques” of the AISLF. She serves as the Scientific Director of the Centre for Socio-Legal Studies and Criminology (CeSlec).

Among her recent publications: Diferença e diferir: estudos sobre o presente (ed. with R. De Giorgi and J. Neuenschwander Magalhães, Revista de Faculdade Mineira de Direito, 2024); El derecho y el futuro. Revolución digital y cultura jurídica (Estado de México, Jurista Editores, 2023); Che genere di guerra. Il diritto umano alla pace e le donne (Milan: Franco Angeli, 2023).

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