Digital Futures and the City of Today ─ New Technologies and Physical Spaces

In the contemporary city, the physical infrastructure and sensorial experiences of two millennia are now interwoven within an invisible digital matrix. This matrix alters human perceptions of the city, informs our behavior, and increasingly influences the urban designs we ultimately inhabit. Digital Futures and the City of Todaycuts through these issues to analyze the work of architects, designers, media specialists, and a growing number of community activists, laying out a multifaceted view of the complex integrated phenomenon of the contemporary city. Split into three relevant sections, the book interrogates the concept of the “smart” city, examines innovative digital projects from around the world, documents experimental visions for the future, and describes projects that engage local communities in the design process.

Carl H. Smith is director of the Learning Technology Research Institute and senior lecturer at Ravensbourne, London.Edward M. Clift is president of Brooks Institute in Ventura, California. Glenda Amayo Caldwell is a researcher in the Urban Informatics Research Lab and a lecturer in architecture at the School of Design, Queensland University of Technology, Australia.