Abstract:  This article conceptualizes municipal digital communication as an urban infrastructure that generates cognitive externalities, thereby contributing to debates on the (un)sustainability of digitalization. While the literature has paid more attention to the material- and energy-related impacts of digital infrastructures, it has somewhat overlooked how these systems shape access to, understanding of, and use of public information. To fill this gap, this study develops an integrated analytical model based on four dimensions: digital waste, communicative noise, cognitive accessibility, and institutional orientation toward older adults. Empirically, the analysis is based on a systematic content analysis of the digital communication infrastructures of 20 municipalities belonging to the Spanish Network of Age-Friendly Cities and Communities. Composite indices capture structural dysfunctions and communicative capacities through descriptive and configurational analyses. Communicative noise (mean = 0.41) is more prevalent than digital waste (mean = 0.33), indicating that fragmentation and navigation incoherence are the main sources of inefficiency. A further gap between cognitive accessibility (mean = 0.34) and institutional orientation toward older adults (mean = 0.28) undercuts the inclusiveness of digital environments. The configurational analysis identifies critical systems as the largest group (35%), followed by advanced and hybrid systems (20% each), while three cases remain indeterminate because of missing dysfunction data. The article introduces communicative sustainability as an emergent condition for realizing public value through urban digital infrastructures.

Keywords:  age-friendly cities; cognitive accessibility; communicative sustainability; digital waste; municipal communication; urban digital infrastructures

Published:   14 September 2026

Issue:   Vol 11 (2026): Digitalisation and (Un)Sustainability: Assessing Digital Waste and Material Pollution in the City (In Progress)