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Robotic machines such as drones and autonomous vehicles are being developed with ever more sophistication to supplement existing infrastructures of mobility, freight and goods delivery, maintenance, policing, social control and surveillance in the public realm. Whilst there are potential public benefits from the use of 'urban robots', there are also significant challenges in terms of making space for robots, public safety and concerns about privacy, the use of data and extended social control. The project is led from the University of ºù«Ӱҵ by Dr Aidan While, Professor Simon Marvin and Dr Brendan Doody. 

It is becoming clear that robotics will be an integral part of the design, planning and operation of future cities and urban infrastructure. This is most evident in the development of driverless cars and drones, but there is potential for a much broader application of robotics in the delivery of goods and the management of people. The use of robots in the public realm of cities has previously been constrained by technological limitations and concerns about human safety. However, that is changing rapidly as technology develops and governments recognize the potential of robotics to provide essential goods and services with reduced human contact.

Interest in urban robotics has certainly increased because of COVID-19 and the potential of robotics to provide essential goods and services with reduced human contact. There could be significant public benefits from using robotics in the public realm but also social and ethical concerns about employment impacts and extended surveillance and social control, especially when robotics is combined with facial recognition and profiling. There is growing interest in urban robotics but so far, the research on wider urban impacts has been limited. The aim of the proposed project is to fill that research gap by undertaking new research on the unfolding development of urban robotics in the UK and internationally.

This internationally leading 30-month research project will help understand the potential impacts of urban robotics and provide the knowledge needed to inform public policy and academic research on urban robotics at this critical phase in its development. That includes supporting the development of urban robotic technology and services in the UK by linking social science and robotic engineering and understanding how innovation is shaped by opportunities for real world testing. The research will lead to publications that will help define and develop this new and important field of interdisciplinary study.

The research includes:

• a review of international urban robotic research and development
• detailed analysis of the context for urban robotic innovation in the UK
• case-studies of urban robotic initiatives and innovation systems in the USA, Australia and Japan; and
• a structured programme of policy support and awareness-raising.

Team: Aidan While, Simon Marvin and Brendan Doody.

For more information contact Aidan While, a.h.while@sheffield.ac.uk

Publications

Journal articles

Caprotti, F., Cugurullo, F., Cook, M., Karvonen, A., Marvin, S., McGuirk, P., & Valdez, A. M. (2024). . Urban Geography, 45(5), 883–894.

Kovacic, M., Marvin, S., & While, A. (2023). . Urban Geography, 45(7), 1236–1255.

Lockhart, A., Marvin, S., & While, A. (2023). . Geoforum, 145.

Edited books

Cugurullo, F., Caprotti, F., Cook, M., Karvonen, A., McGuirk, P., & Marvin, S. (Eds.). (2023). (1st ed.). Routledge.

Chapters

While, A. (2023). Regulating and making space for the expanded field of urban robotics. In Cugurullo, F., Caprotti, F., Cook, M., Karvonen, A., McGuirk, P., & Marvin, S. (Eds.). (.  (1st ed.). Routledge. (pp99-113).

Presentations

Robotics Restructuring Lectures: In October 2023 Dr Aidan While and Professor Simon Marvin delivered presentations as part of the ºù«Ӱҵ Urbanism Lecture Series 2023 on "Robotic restructuring: Cities, climate and ecology". If you missed the lectures the first time, watch them via this link. 
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