THE CITY AS CODE : Assemblage, Surveillance, and Algorithmic Rule in London

Abstract

Abstract This article theorizes London as an illustrative ‘Subjugating City’, where urban governance has evolved over four decades into a distributed surveillance assemblage. Moving beyond fragmented critiques of individual technologies, it examines how algorithmic statecraft produces ‘resilient control’, a mode of governance that preserves its core logic by absorbing and reorganizing democratic contestation. Specifically, the London example operates through three key parameters: a dual policy logic balancing pro‐innovation narratives with intrusive legal data extraction mandates; a hybrid public‐private infrastructure integrating national databases with corporate analytics; and an adaptive governance design that internalizes legal and social friction. Through analysis of London's layered surveillance infrastructure—from the ‘Ring of Steel’ and national Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) systems to the privatization of state functions through partnerships such as National Health Service (NHS)–Palantir—the article demonstrates how governance power is stabilized through technological path dependency and corporate secrecy. Rather than positing an easily transferable or universally reproducible model, the article treats London as a rich empirical example that highlights how liberal democratic institutions normalize expansive surveillance while maintaining the appearance of accountability and public consent across neoliberal urban spaces.

The authors' abstract, as published at the source. International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, 2026 · DOI ↗