The AI Urban Exclusion Cycle: smart urbanism and inequality in the Global South

Abstract

Artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly reshaping urban development across the Global South, yet its implications for urban inequality remain insufficiently understood. We argue that current smart city debates often overlook how pre-existing urban inequalities become embedded within AI-enabled urban development. To address this gap, we propose the AI Urban Exclusion Cycle, a conceptual framework explaining how data inequality, uneven smart infrastructure, and AI governance interact as reinforcing mechanisms that generate spatial exclusion and perpetuate urban inequality. The framework highlights the interconnected dynamics of these challenges and identifies representative urban data, equitable infrastructure investment, accountable governance, and meaningful public participation as key interventions for breaking the cycle. The AI Urban Exclusion Cycle provides a foundation for debate and research on more inclusive and human-centered AI-enabled urban development.