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About

Aidan While is a leading urban geographer whose research sits at the pioneering intersection of robotics, automation, and city life. Over the past decade, he has established himself as one of the foremost academic voices examining how emerging technologies are reshaping urban environments, governance, and social life. His seminal 2019 paper, "Robotics and automation in the city: a research agenda," has garnered 169 citations and effectively mapped out a new field of inquiry, framing cities as experimental laboratories for robotic innovation. His work gained particular relevance during the COVID-19 pandemic, when his analysis of AI-driven urban responses in China attracted 120 citations, demonstrating the real-world urgency of his scholarship. While extends his research across comparative urban contexts — from San Francisco to Tokyo to Dubai — exploring how different societies negotiate the complex introduction of robotic systems. More recently, he has broadened his lens to examine sidewalk delivery robot regulation and the ecological dimensions of automation, revealing how these technologies intersect with environmental challenges. Through influential white papers and journal articles, While has consistently shaped both academic debate and policy conversations around the governance of urban robotic futures.