Building the sustainable city through Twitter: Creative skilled migrants and innovative technology use

Abstract

We investigate the role of creative skilled migrants in broadcasting an alternative use of technology in support of a sustainable smart city. We do so by analyzing the themes they produced on Twitter. We focus on Amsterdam as a case, and urban planners and designers as examples of creative migrants. Computational methodology allowed for a selection of naturally occurring data in social media. We show that the creative migrants actively contribute to shaping the smart-sustainable city through the themes of top-down technological solutions and bottom-up participation by highlighting innovative uses of technology in support of the environment and citizens’ needs. However, the migrants do not question received historical and geopolitical power constellations. Moreover, they propose the Western city as a role model for solving pressing urban problems.