Abstract
As municipal governments worldwide accelerate smart city transitions, digital interfaces increasingly mediate access to public infrastructures, civic services, and communal spaces. This study examines the socio-spatial ramifications of Singapore's 'Smart Nation' agenda within its public housing estates, managed by the Housing & Development Board (HDB), where over 80% of the resident population resides. Utilizing a convergent mixed-methods design that combines a stratified household survey (N = 420), semi-structured in-depth interviews (N = 38), and spatial-ethnographic observations across two contrasting towns—mature Queenstown and digitally instrumented Punggol—we interrogate how digital inclusion policies intersect with residents' everyday spatial practices. While state initiatives promote ubiquitous digital platforms for estate maintenance, cashless transactions, and community engagement, our findings reveal deep socio-demographic stratifications along axes of age, socioeconomic status, and digital literacy. Rather than experiencing frictionless technological integration, marginalized residents, particularly lower-income elderly cohorts, deploy tactical spatial workarounds within physical void decks and neighborhood centers to circumvent digital barriers. We conceptualize these dynamics through the lens of 'algorithmic territorialization,' demonstrating how smart urban governance reconfigures public housing from an egalitarian social infrastructure into an unevenly accessible digital landscape. The article concludes with theoretical and policy implications for realizing socially equitable, inclusive smart urbanism.
