‪The image of the city is considered here from a particular point of view: the way different technical means of representation are affected by the topics of traces and data. After a discussion of the concept of representation by Louis Marin, the topics of traces and data are defined as privileged forms of a space-time conception of urban realities (chronotopos). Data treatment refers to a process of naturalization of reality (‪‪it is here‪‪) and an inchoative relation to time (it will deliver). The last part of the paper describes those time-space patterns and the conception they convey of urbanity in the three case studies of an institutional policy, an innovative device, and a published book devoted to the presentation of the project of ‪‪smart cities.‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬