The technologies of intelligent cities that monitor their citizens in a privacy-respecting way and adapt to their behaviour have the scope to embody values of one kind or another. Such cities are already evolving, and it is important for us to consider — and influence — the values they will promote, in accordance with their constitutional frameworks, human rights, as well as the Sustainable Development Goals.

Design-for-values is a complex undertaking, however, and (due to feedback and side effects) such interventions are not always guaranteed to achieve their intended purpose from the beginning. As researchers in the field of machine learning have pointed out, without careful, deeply-considered design, technologies can create unanticipated, and perhaps unwanted, consequences. In any cases, design-for-values has become an urgent approach to master the challenges in our increasingly technological age more successfully.