I am currently writing an academic study about citizens living in urban areas, without using mobile devices. In germany, where i am located, there is almost no research on alternative concepts of urban life. The concept of “smart urbanization” is a way too technocratic approach on the infrastructural, social, ecological problems cities always tend to have and often just focus on economic factors.
Yet, there are around 10 million people in Germany who live a more analog life and I am convinced this has to be right to have, also in a more and more digitized society.
I would be interested in any thoughts, ideas and research on this topic!
Welcome to the community, Roy! You may want to see this Hacker News query for prior smart city articles and their discussion: https://hn.algolia.com/?q=smart+city
Hi Roy! We need to shift focus from being delighted with technology to being delighted with people, and we need to use persuasive design - this time in a good way - to promote wellness and empathy.
Amber Case has an excellent article talking about public spaces, which she calls non-places, that you might want to check out.
Thank you all for your interest so far! I’ll have some problems with my research being delayed because of the corona crisis we’re now facing in europe. As soon as i can share some results and insights i will make another post on this topic.