Artificial intelligence transformation opens broad opportunities for improving the quality of life and enhancing urban efficiency, yet it simultaneously carries serious risks of discrimination, exclusion, and the erosion of trust between citizens and institutions. Ultimately, it serves as an early warning, highlighting the urgent need for smart public policies that promote digital inclusion, economic participation, and citizen involvement in technological decision-making to preserve social cohesion and ensure sustainable urbanism and social belonging in smart cities.The integration of artificial intelligence technologies presents a complex challenge, in that social belonging is no longer solely determined by cultural or spatial factors but is increasingly linked to individuals’ ability to integrate into digital infrastructures and benefit from the emerging urban digital economy.Through a theoretical lens, the adoption of artificial intelligence in service distribution, mobility, housing, and governance may reinforce social and economic inequalities, especially for digitally excluded populations. The rise of the algorithmic self presents a profound ethical dilemma at the intersection of autonomy and algorithmic determinism. As artificial intelligence systems increasingly shape our preferences, decisions, and self-perceptions, the individual’s sense of authorship over their own life may erode.This challenges the notion of a self-directed, autonomous person and raises concerns about the subtle influence of algorithmic nudges on human agency. Rather than documenting a current crisis, if smart technologies are deployed without inclusive design and equitable access, they risk deepening digital divides and producing new forms of urban marginalization. Urban artificial intelligence, rather than being an end in itself, should serve as a means to foster sustainable, inclusive, and resilient urban futures.
Hema Naik (2026) studied this question.