Safiyeh Tayebi is a PhD student in the Department of Geography at Rutgers–New Brunswick. Tayebi’s research examines the environmental, social, and democratic dimensions of digital infrastructure, particularly the rapid expansion of data centers and artificial intelligence systems in U.S. cities. Her work integrates GIScience, spatial analysis, digital ethnography, and mixed-methods approaches to investigate how emerging technologies reshape urban governance, civic participation, environmental justice, and community perceptions. She is currently developing the Cloud Footprint Index, a geospatial and computational framework for evaluating the multi-dimensional impacts of data centers. Her broader interests include digital governance, democratic accountability, urban sustainability, and the politics of technological infrastructure.

The Cloud Footprint Index: Developing a Flexible Evaluation Multi-Dimensional Framework for Data Center Impacts on Sustainability and Regional Economies

My project examines how the rapid expansion of data centers is affecting communities and local decision-making processes in the United States. As artificial intelligence and cloud computing grow, many cities are experiencing increasing pressure from large-scale digital infrastructure projects that require land, water, and energy resources. Through interviews, social media analysis, and community-based research, I study how residents, planners, and policymakers perceive these developments and whether people feel included in decisions that shape their neighborhoods. The project connects directly to the fellowship’s focus on the effects of AI on democracy by exploring how digital infrastructure influences public participation, transparency, civic trust, and democratic accountability in American communities.