Description
Conference paper and presentation. A Streetlight Is Not a Tree. Abstract: Cities are complex systems. They operate on various levels across multiple scales. They subsume the socio-cultural, the economic, the political, the ecological, the technological, and the philosophical. These systems are not separated but interwoven in a chemistry of information, communication, and feedback. Today's cities are growing, at an unprecedented rate, in both population and infrastructure. As they grow, the way we experience and interact with them is constantly changing. Yet, today's cities are not necessarily shaped by those who occupy them. And those who occupy them are not necessarily congruent to our traditional notions of 'stakeholders', leading to tensions across the various levels of governance and interventions. Understanding how these systems coalesce requires a 'vehicle' and a 'language'. In this paper I use cybernetics as a ‘language’ to examine the dynamics of these interrelated components, and I use streetlights, as both a technology and a resource, as a ‘vehicle’ of exploration, examining how they navigate relationships in cities. Streetlights have a long history and cultural significance, and modern streetlights are equipped with frontier technologies that collect and respond to data about their surroundings. This data is also used to optimize the performance of other technologies and policies that influence socio-ecological behaviour. This paper then uses Alexander's analogy of the "tree" – not a centrally controlled hierarchical structure, but complex systems with a network of multiple interdependent subsystems – to streetlights, examining how power and relationships of diverse stakeholders are being used to define our cities. Rather than arriving at a solution, I offer a set of provocations aimed at questioning the philosophy of the city. These provocations are situated in the intersection of technology, society, and the environment to critically question the technological developments that shape our urban fabric, while in the opposite direction, shape the socio-ecological interaction of our urban space.| Period | 4 Oct 2023 → … |
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| Event title | Conference paper and presentation: 'The Philosphy of the City' |
| Event type | Other |