Phoenix Seeks to Adopt AI for City and Regional Planning

Early last week, the World Economic Forum published an article on the use of AI by local governments worldwide. Just a few days later, the APM Research Lab released a piece specifically looking at Arizona’s efforts to adopt AI for city and regional planning, which will be on the ballot this upcoming November.

The full adoption of the technology is part of the prop 470, which is a 20-year extension of a half-cent sales tax that Phoenix voters first approved in 1985 and renewed in 2004. “If passed by voters, Prop 479 would set aside $12.5 million every year for emerging technologies, allowing Phoenix to maintain its status as a regional leader in technology adoption,” writes reporter Rithwik Kalale. The city of Phoenix already uses AI to adjust traffic signals in response to real-time conditions; approval of Prop 479 would allow the technology to be applied through the entire metro area, Kalale reports.

APM Research Lab’s article also highlights AI efforts in Tempe, Arizona, which adopted an ethical AI policy in 2023. Stephanie Deitrick, the chief data and analytics officer for the City of Tempe, who wrote the policy, said at a recent summit that there are a lot of drawbacks to AI and that successful policies and applications need to be people-focused and have human oversight to provide check and balances against inherent biases in the data and algorithms. “AI on its own cannot understand the social norms, cultures, or context of development in every city it is used in, especially when it comes to governance,” Kalale writes. The article concludes with an AI-generated conclusion that states: “By carefully weighing the benefits and risks, and ensuring AI is used as a complement rather than a replacement, urban planners can harness the power of AI to create smarter, more responsive cities while safeguarding community values and public trust.”