Oskar Steiner

I am interdisciplinary researcher, interested generally in understanding how infrastructures and expertise shape environmental action at the level of cities.

In my current research, I’m studying the history of urban environmental modelling and simulation (M&S) systems—sometimes called ‘digital twins’—and the way they have been designed and implemented over the last ~10 years. I’m interested in these systems because they are simultaneously political, economic and scientific experiments—intended to produce new policy instruments, business models, and forms of knowledge all at once. As it turns out, this is a complicated balancing act, full of trade-offs and unexpected hurdles. I study the way urban actors (public, private and scientific) negotiate these challenges, and the way these negotiations eventually impact institutions of urban governance. I use mostly qualitative methods, drawing on interviews, documentary research and ethnographic observation to follow urban M&S projects across their lifecycle.

Before beginning my PhD, I completed an MSc at Sciences Po in Urban Governance, Policy and Planning. Before that, I completed an undergraduate degree in Economics and International Relations at UBC, close to where I grew up in Whistler, British Columbia, Canada. More recently I have been a visiting researcher at Singapore Management University and currently work as the co-organizer of the Cities are Back in Town seminar series.

This website is intended mostly as an online CV. Hello and welcome 🙂

Contact: oskar [at] oskarsteiner.ca