Imagined communities: Reflections on the origin and spread of nationalism

‘The Production of Space’, in: Frans Jacobi, Imagine, Space Poetry, Copenhagen, 1996, unpaginated.

The Production of Space

From the Publisher: 
A Question of Identity 
Life on the Screen is a fascinating and wide-ranging investigation of the impact of computers and networking on society, peoples' perceptions of themselves, and the individual's relationship to machines. Sherry Turkle, a Professor of the Sociology of Science at MIT and a licensed psychologist, uses Internet MUDs (multi-user domains, or in older gaming parlance multi-user dungeons) as a launching pad for explorations of software design, user interfaces, simulation, artificial intelligence, artificial life, agents, "bots," virtual reality, and "the on-line way of life." 
Turkle's discussion of postmodernism is particularly enlightening. She shows how postmodern concepts in art, architecture, and ethics are related to concrete topics much closer to home, for example AI research (Minsky's "Society of Mind") and even MUDs (exemplified by students with X-window terminals who are doing homework in one window and simultaneously playing out several different roles in the same MUD in other windows). Those of you who have (like me) been turned off by the shallow, pretentious, meaningless paintings and sculptures that litter our museums of modern art may have a different perspective after hearing what Turkle has to say. 
This is a psychoanalytical book, not a technical one. However, software developers and engineers will find it highly accessible because of the depth of the author's technical understanding and credibility. Unlike most other authors in this genre, Turkle does not constantly jar the technically-literate reader with blatant errors or bogus assertions about how things work. Although I personally don't have time or patience for MUDs,view most of AI as snake-oil, and abhor postmodern architecture, I thought the time spent reading this book was an extremely good investment.

스크린 위의 삶 = Life on the screen : identity in the age of the internet

It seems that a new paradigm is being formed within the social sciences, the ‘new mobilities’ paradigm. Some recent contributions to forming and stabilising this new paradigm include work from anthropology, cultural studies, geography, migration studies, science and technology studies, tourism and transport studies, and sociology. In this paper we draw out some characteristics, properties, and implications of this emergent paradigm, especially documenting some novel mobile theories and methods. We reflect on how far this paradigm has developed and thereby to extend and develop the ‘mobility turn’ within the social sciences.

/pdf/the-new-mobilities-paradigm-5es9cbvhdk.pdf

The new mobilities paradigm.

As the term “smart city” gains wider and wider currency, there is still confusion about what a smart city is, especially since several similar terms are often used interchangeably. This paper aims to clarify the meaning of the word “smart” in the context of cities through an approach based on an in-depth literature review of relevant studies as well as official documents of international institutions. It also identifies the main dimensions and elements characterizing a smart city. The different metrics of urban smartness are reviewed to show the need for a shared definition of what constitutes a smart city, what are its features, and how it performs in comparison to traditional cities. Furthermore, performance measures and initiatives in a few smart cities are identified.

Smart Cities: Definitions, Dimensions, Performance, and Initiatives

/pdf/no-longer-lost-in-the-crowd-prospects-of-continuous-4ahlnpyj8k.pdf

No longer lost in the crowd: Prospects of continuous geosurveillance

It can be observed that current city dashboard platforms are heavily reliant on traditional graph and map-based visualisation tools. While graphical communications have a long-established record of effective data communication, recent technological advances present scientists with new platforms to facilitate the exploration of city data by smart-citizens. This project proposes to investigate how scientists can build extensive and effective city dashboards by exploring emergent virtual environments (VEs) and virtual reality (VR) modalities for data visualisation.

Future Cities and Multimodalities: how multimodal technologies can improve smart-citizen engagement with city dashboards

Concomitant with a calling into question of the brain drain thesis, in the past decade considerable attention has been given to the ways in which diaspora populations can and do impact the development of their homelands from their overseas locations. Whether construed as selfless patriotism and paternalism or self-promoting meddling, it is clear that at key moments in the past diaspora communities have assumed responsibilities normally held by — and in so doing challenged the autonomy of — sending states. At times, they have acted to infantilize institutions in their homelands. More recently, however, there has been growing recognition that diaspora contributions can play a more progressive and supportive role in helping sending countries to help themselves. This book subscribes to the view that at least some diaspora communities have the potential to play a positive role in the empowerment of institutions in sending states, and thereafter to undergird the emergence of these states as capable and self-determining architects of their own futures. The purpose of the book has been to map, conceptualize, scrutinize, and critique the wide variety of ways in which countries’ talent abroad mobilizes and acts to transform, improve, scale up, and fortify the capacity of public, private, and civil institutions at home.

Diaspora for development: In search of a new generation of diaspora strategies

While there is a relatively extensive literature concerning the nature of smart cities in general, the roles of corporate actors in their production, and the development and deployment of specific smart city technologies, to date there have been relatively few studies that have examined the situated practices as to how the smart city as a whole unfolds in specific places. In this paper, we chart the smart city ecosystem in Dublin, Ireland, and examine how the four city authorities have actively collaborated to progressively frame and mobilise an articulated vision of Dublin as a smart city. In particular, we focus on the work of ‘Smart Dublin’, a shared unit established to coordinate, manage and promote Dublin’s smart city initiatives. We argue that Smart Dublin has on the one hand sought to corral smart city initiatives within a common framework, and on the other has acted to boost the city-region’s smart city activities, especially with respect to economic development. Our analysis highlights the value of undertaking a holistic mapping of a smart city in formation, and the role of political and administrative geographies and specialist smart city units in shaping that formation.

From the accidental to articulated smart city: The creation and work of ‘Smart Dublin’: The Programmable City Working Paper 29

/pdf/net-geography-fieldwork-frequently-asked-questions-55qfw9m9h5.pdf

Rob Kitchin

Papers

No longer lost in the crowd: Prospects of continuous geosurveillance

Future Cities and Multimodalities: how multimodal technologies can improve smart-citizen engagement with city dashboards

Diaspora for development: In search of a new generation of diaspora strategies

From the accidental to articulated smart city: The creation and work of ‘Smart Dublin’: The Programmable City Working Paper 29

Net:Geography Fieldwork Frequently Asked Questions