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

To date, critical examinations of smart cities have largely ignored their temporality. In this paper I consider smart cities from a temporal perspective arguing that they produce a new timescape and constitute space-time machines. The first half of the paper examines temporal relations and rhythms, exploring how smart cities are the products of and contribute to space-time compression, create new urban polyrhythms, alter the practices of scheduling, and change the pace and tempos of everyday activities. The second half of the paper details how smart cities shape the nature of temporal modalities, considering how they reframe and utilise the relationship between the past, present and future. The analysis draws from a set of 43 interviews conducted in Dublin, Ireland, and highlights that much of the power of smart urbanism is derived from how it produces a new timescape, rather than simply reconfiguring spatial relations.

The timescape of smart cities: The Programmable City Working Paper 35

/pdf/smart-cities-algorithmic-technocracy-and-new-urban-20ywphpkk0.pdf

Smart Cities, Algorithmic Technocracy and New Urban Technocrats

Spatial big data and the era of continuous geosurveillance

The year 2020 marks the 10th anniversary of Dialogues in Human Geography, and it’s therefore an opportune time to reflect on the journal’s first decade as well as consider potential future directions. With the start of a new decade, it is a good moment to rotate onto the journal’s editorial board a new group of scholars, reflecting the global community of geographers (a change that has taken effect as of January 2020). There are a number of changes to the editorial team in the works as well. In April 2019, Dialogues’ founding editor, Rob Kitchin, stepped down as managing editor of the journal after a decade at the helm, and Reuben Rose-Redwood began his term as managing editor. Rob will continue as one of the article forum editors of the journal until June 2020 when Lauren Rickards will take his place, transitioning from a book review editor to an article forum editor. Michelle Buckley will join the editorial team as one of the book review forum editors at that time. We are also grateful for the editorial service of Ayona Datta, who stepped down as one of the journal’s editors in December 2019, with Elia Apostolopoulou joining the editorial team as a new article forum editor in January 2020.

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/2043820620904227

Rob Kitchin

Papers

The timescape of smart cities: The Programmable City Working Paper 35

Smart Cities, Algorithmic Technocracy and New Urban Technocrats

Spatial big data and the era of continuous geosurveillance

Reflections on the first decade of Dialogues in Human Geography and the road ahead

Producing data for qualitative analysis