Eliciting design principles using a data justice framework for participatory urban water governance observatories

Participatory urban observatories can potentially improve transparency in infrastructure governance, offer opportunities for residents’ engagement, and amplify the voice of marginalized people in urban governance. While often optimistically presented as a tool to address empowerment issues in the Global South, participatory urban observatories are critiqued for reproducing urban inequalities in the digital infrastructure. In this paper, we review the design and implementation of participatory urban observatories and dashboards in public (water) infrastructure governance and their potential to contribute to data justice. This paper responds to calls for data justice by examining how participatory urban observatories are (or are not) conducive to inclusive data practices. Additionally, we contribute to bridging the divide between data justice in theory and practice by eliciting design principles. The principles highlight the importance of creating smart city interventions collaboratively to avoid reproducing unjust systems and to imagine new ways of enacting a more just city.