Understanding the Evolution

Data sharing policy mandates did not emerge as a regulatory approach overnight, but evolved from existing trends and conditions, notably including the concept of “corporate data philanthropy” which I argue constitutes a key precursor. This section of the report provides a narrative of that roughly decade long evolution for the field. Intended not as authoritative “history” but rather as a theory of development for platform urbanism data sharing, this account is nonetheless informed by contemporaneous sources illustrating prominent trends and approaches to urban data, by primary and secondary source conversations with city officials, and from meta-analysis of platform data sharing policies.

The narrative covered begins with a power shift in urban information processing, with “big data” and mobile technologies leading the private sector to far surpass local government capabilities as an authoritative source of civic information about the city. Calls for “data philanthropy” articulated a vision for data sharing for public benefit but relied on corporate good will. Some platforms did voluntarily offer data under this vision precluding perceived need for formal mandates. This gave cities a first taste of platform data and set the stage for the evolution of limited data sharing polices in “early adopter” agencies with the market leverage to target ride-hail and short-term rental platforms like Uber and Airbnb. Finally, this narrative will bring us to the present explosion of data sharing mandates across US cities and beyond, particularly in the domain of micromobility, and consider the more acute factors that enabled it.

Let’s dive in.