Thought-Factory.net Philosophical Conversations Public Opinion philosophy.com Junk for code
PortElliot2.jpg
'An aphorism, properly stamped and molded, has not been "deciphered" when it has simply been read; rather one has then to begin its interpretation, for which is required an art of interpretation.' -- Nietzsche, 'On the Genealogy of Morals'
RECENT ENTRIES
SEARCH
ARCHIVES
Weblog Links
Library
Fields
Philosophers
Writers
Connections
Magazines
E-Resources
Academics
Other
www.thought-factory.net
'An aphorism, properly stamped and molded, has not been "deciphered" when it has simply been read; rather one has then to begin its interpretation, for which is required an art of interpretation.' -- Nietzsche, 'On the Genealogy of Morals'

Urban Informatics « Previous | |Next »
January 9, 2008

I just stumbled upon a reference to Urban Informatics: Community Integration and Implementation, which is about the new media in the urban village. It recognizes and explores the way internet has advanced to become the prime communication medium that connects many threads across the fabric of urban life. I'm exploring to see how much is online.

Why the use of urban village rather than urban life?

I live in a townhouse in the very heart of the CBD in Adelaide and it ain't no urban village.There is no community. Nor are there any bonds. Can the CBD be construed as a series of villages since it contains a lot of residential areas within the grid that marks the urban off from the suburban? Not really. The south east corner had a neighbourhood context and feel, but that is the exception.

However, it appears that, as urban densities in the inner city increase with high rise living the language of community is making come back with vengeance in policy areas that ignored it for many years. I can accept cties are becoming collections of distinctive communities and neighbourhoods that become all the more differentiated as the cities grow in size and complexity. As the city expands---eg Sydney--- people remain focused on their small part of it. It is the only way to manage urban life.

This 2007 Conference on Communications and Technologies provides a way into what is being explored. It states that

personalised mobile devices penetrate new urban spaces with a need for innovative products and services that enable the creative and consumption process to account for shifting social, cultural and psychological conditions. City residents now have the ability to communicate within groups, access media and entertainment content and manage their ‘digital lifestyle’ through SMS, mobile email, pictures and video. These innovative applications of locative media incorporate cultural and social patterns of interaction and user-led innovations that are yet to be fully explored.

And:
In addition to these informational and locative functions of new technologies, ICTs increasingly serve a discursive function as well. This is being manifested in a variety of rapidly emerging content genres (e.g., digital storytelling, blogs, e-zines, etc.) which are deployed between individuals as well as in networks of individuals .... Digital cities have been promoted as a civic platform for citizens’ visions of the space they live and work in, complementary (and sometimes even alternative) to the much more institutional view of conventional e-government approaches. Locative media and mobile technology can enhance and augment digital cities and connect them in new ways to the physical city ... enhancing civic participation and deliberation.

| Posted by Gary Sauer-Thompson at 5:29 PM |