  While smart city innovations seem to be a common and necessary response to
increasing challenges of urbanization, foreseeing their impact on complex urban
system is critical for informed decision making. Moreover, often the effect of
urban interventions goes beyond the original expectations, including multiple
indirect impacts. The present study considers the impact of two urban
deployments, Citi Bike (bike sharing system) and LinkNYC kiosks, on the local
commercial activity in the affected neighborhoods of New York City. The study
uses anonymized and aggregated insights provided through a grant from the
Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth in order to provide initial data-driven
evidence towards the hypothesis that proximity of Citi Bike stations
incentivizes local sales at eating places, while LinkNYC kiosks help people,
especially visitors, to navigate local businesses and thus incentivize
commercial activity in different business categories.
