<Fair City Amsterdam> Manu Fernandez: Smart cities as sociotechnical imaginary

[Patrice Riemens]

Aloha,

Nu Amsterdam ook heel erg een 'smart city' wil zijn, is dit boek 
wellicht erg interessant en tijdig:

https://medium.com/@manufernandez/smart-cities-as-sociotechnical-imaginary-introduction-68649d9f0808

Met name het derde deel lijkt me fascinerend:

PART III. THE SMART CITY DISCOURSE ANALYSIS
This chapter constitutes the main contribution. It implies a 
systematization of arguments that are usually assumed and reproduced as 
the foundational features of smart cities and smartmentality. These 
arguments work as narrative myths on two levels: as explicit 
proclamations of the benefits of smart projects and as underlying 
assumptions implicit in the consequences of the smart city realization. 
The use of the myth here may seem at first glance a subjective or even 
cynical assessment. However, it helps us understand how social 
narratives automatically transmit values and cultural representations, 
promote make self-explanatory promises and hide the possibility of 
questioning. In this regard, the reference to the myth does not imply a 
refutation of the possible veracity or relevance of the smart city, but 
attempts to highlight the way in which any kind of social imaginary 
works, especially when they entail idealistic views about technology as 
it is our case. The set of myths presented here aims to provide a 
systematic overview of different levels of critical argument that the 
smart city has raised almost since it began to occupy a dominant 
position. In this sense, the chapter is a contribution by proposing a 
complete systematic of different positions that have already been 
advanced by other authors or from specific disciplines but not 
sufficiently ordered together. These myths, in short, are:

1. The myth of operational efficiency: the obsession with optimization 
as the sole objective of urban services
2. The myth of sustainability: the claim to a weak sustainability 
thinking based on behaviour irresponsibility
3. The myth of economic competitiveness: technological accumulation as 
economic development factor
4. The myth of integration: the pursue of a perfectly integrated 
infrastructures and a seamless urban experience
5. The myth of simplification: reducing urban complexity to simulation 
models instead of thinking cities as wicked problems
6. The myth of big data neutrality: the fiction of an aseptic, 
bias-free, objective and perfect knowledge through data.
7. The myth of depoliticization: the ambition to reach a post-political 
scenario of urban management and control.
8. The myth of technological smugness: identification of technology as 
the critical factor to solve any urban issue.
9. The myth of intrinsic desirability: the inescapable and undisputable 
technological progress.

Wellicht leuke vakantie lektuur!

hartelijke groet en Gute Rutsch aan allen!

p+7D!