Inhabiting digital spaces: An informational right to the city for mobility justice

Abstract

Space is often produced digitally before it is produced physically. This article investigates how the right to the city can be broadened to include the appropriation of digital spaces to produce ‘lived’ transportation spaces. Focussing on mobilisation against highway expansion in Dallas, Texas, we ask the following: (1) what are the mechanisms through which space is conceived, perceived, and lived through the lens of mobility justice; (2) how might claims for technical information challenge dominant transportation policies and projects; and (3) how might participants inhabit digital spaces? We conduct a qualitative analysis of transportation planning narratives, visualisations, and public comments in three documents: the Dallas City Center Master Assessment Process, Coalition for a New Dallas’ I-345/45 Framework Plan, and public survey data regarding proposed highway changes (n = 1241). Findings demonstrate how residents challenge transportation ‘needs’ as often determined in conceptual planning spaces. Further, technologies can be appropriated to produce differential spaces, which can alter the trajectory of highway projects. Challenging the legitimacy of institutionalised knowledge through the appropriation and production of digital spaces forms part of a larger claim to the right of the city.