Liquid Cities, Fluid Citizens - A Study on 'Smart' Cities by calebseedk

LIQUID CITIES FLUID CITIZENS CALEB SEE MENTOR: PROF. SAM JOYCE

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Contents 1 Abstract �� 4 2 Background �� 6 2.1 The Challenges faced by cities today 6 2.2 Solutionism 6 2.3 The critique – The ‘Smart’ City as a Private Agenda 7 3 Throughout the Years �� 10 4 The Individual, the Society and the Machine �� 12 3.1 City as a Living Machine 12 4.1 Mobile City - Yona Friedman 14 4.2 City as a Tree 17 4.3 A City is Not a Tree 18 4.4 City as a Pattern Language 19 4.5 Cybernetics and the Feedback Mechanism 20 4.6 Cybernetics and the City 21 4.7 Metabolism 26 4.8 Societies of control 30 4.9 The Pursuit of Self-Interest 32 4.10 Rhizomatic structure 34 4.11 Conclusions 35 5 Definitions of Cyberspace ��39 5.1 Ambiguous Definitions 39 5.2 Range of Cyberspace 39 6 Properties of Cyberspace �� 40 6.1 Privacy and Tracking 40 6.2 Fluidity in Form and Space 41 6.3 Fluidity in Identity 42 6.4 Controlled Freedom 43 6.5 Inclusive, yet exclusive 44 6.6 Outliers and Radicals 45 6.7 Interactive Feedback systems 46 6.8 Heralding Different Systems of Democracy 48

7 Definitions of the “Smart” City ��53 8 Smart Cities Around The World ��55 8.1 Retrofit Smart Cities 55 8.2 “Smart-at-Birth” Cities 57 8.3 Case Studies 58 8.4 Lessons from the ‘Smart’ City 72 9 Issues on the ‘Smart’ City ��76 9.1 Framing the Stakeholders 76 9.2 Issue 1: Of Control and Power 77 9.3 Issue 2: Where are the people? 81 10 Themes For Speculation ��86 10.1 Cyberspace - physical space relationship 86 10.2 Infrastructure De-materialization 88 10.3 Trans/Post-Nationalism 89 10.4 Increasing accessibility/autonomy/agency 90 11 The Southeast Asian Context ��94 11.1 The Geographic Location of Singapore 94 11.2 The Economic Position of Singapore and her Neighbours 96 12 Singapore - Johor Overview ��99 12.1 Developments in Singapore 100 12.2 Developments in Johor, Malaysia 101 13 Why the Discourse on Singapore? ��102 14 Singapore’s Reality and Cyberspace ��106 14.1 The case for Hybrid Reality 106 15 A Vision of HeteroTOpia �� 108 15.1 A National Development Strategy 108 15.2 How will this be manifested? 110 16 A Study in Fiction ��120 16.1 Blade Runner (1982) 122 16.2 Blade Runner 2049 (2017) 122 16.3 Ghost in the Shell (1982) 124 16.4 Cloud Atlas 125 16.5 Minority Report (2002) 126 16.6 Dredd (2012) 126 16.7 Logan’s Run (1997) 127 16.8 Æon Flux (2005) 127 17 What Future? �� 130 18 Evaluating Today’s Trends, Speculating Tomorrows Future �� 134

1 ABSTRACT The world today is inundated by a digital blanket, interwoven with interfaces and functioning in tandem with a parallel digital universe. As these trends intensify, the physical realm is pushed ever closer to the virtual, a phenomenon brought about by the creation of portals that range in all types and sizes across two fundamentally different spaces. In recent decades, its manifestation in the built environment comes in the form of sensors, interfaces, processors, buses, radio waves etc., its presence ubiquitous, carried around in pockets and embedded in the surrounding infrastructure. The cities that best exemplify these characteristics are named “smart” cities, a term which in itself is all-encompassing and ambiguous, with no standard consensus on its definition. The reasons to create from scratch or modify existing cities into a “smart” city vary, from economic development, political statement, population appeasement, to technology for the sake of technology. However, they all beg the common question: What have cities as liveable, human spaces relinquished in place of the latest and smartest? Is the current model of a “smart” city truly the way forward, or is it ever truly “smart”? Already, we see ever more inherent shortcomings and voices of dissent at early prototypes of these cities, leading to at best grand utopic visions remaining as plans on paper, and at worst, multibillion-dollar mistakes stifled as shells of their artistic impressions and promised glory.

Abstract

Yet, the “smart” city industry continues to proliferate. (Stats on smart city industry) Nations continue to draft up new strategic visions of a technological world, embedding even more sensors into the environment. The line between the physical and virtual inevitably continues to be blurred. It is time for us to step back and look at the overall potential and possibilities that could be harnessed from the realm of the machines – cyberspace, and speculate on alternate forms of its applications to the physical space. Firstly, by revisiting the techno-utopias of the mid-20th Century and interrogating their relevance, approach and ideals behind them, visions of the past could unlock possibilities and merits that we may have overlooked in a rush for development. Secondly, an examination of the rapid growth of billion-dollar business cities in the 21st Century would reveal the dichotomy of technology as a tool for control and empowerment. Subsequently, an analysis of the South-East Asian region as well as the city-state of Singapore would provide a deeper understanding of the intricacies of an Asian city in a unique geographical position, anchored in a harsh socio-political climate where the only means of survival is to be one step ahead of other nations.

Introduction | 5

2 BACKGROUND

2.1 The Challenges faced by cities today The world continues to observe rapid and unplanned population migration into cities and intense urbanization, with more than half of the world population living in urban areas in 2018, and estimated to further increase to a figure of 68 percent in 2050. This unrelenting global phenomenon will only continue to intensify, even as developing cities of today struggle to maintain a semblance of control, equity, and efficiency to various levels of success. On the other hand, cities more advanced in their development face a different set of existential challenges, including population decline in lowfertility countries, pollution and the dilution of identity to name a few. Global socio-political climates have also fluctuated; even as cities and supply chains become increasingly inter-connected and tightly integrated, we see the beginnings of fragmentation, fluidity of capital and intensifying competition between major players, and at various levels in the world economy.

Population 7 billion

Urban

6 billion

5 billion

4 billion

3 billion

2 billion

Rural 1 billion

0 1500

1600

1700

1800

1900

Fig. 1 Population living in urban and rural areas, World, 1500 to 2016 Source: Our World in Data, based on UN World Urbanization Prospects 2018 & historical sources. https://ourworldindata.org/urbanization

World’s population residing in urban areas percent 2018 percent 2050

55 68

World Urbanization Prospects, The 2018 Revision2

2.2 Solutionism

In this context, “sustainable development” has become ever more critical, as the world wakes-up to the realization of the rapid, but increasingly unstable and inefficient developments of past decades. Ever more threats and challenges would be created from the rapid urbanizationand migration of people into cities. This is true for cities at all levels of development. It is no wonder that today, many cities (at all stages of development) have turned to digital technologies as the “panacea” for continued development. By harnessing information and communications technology and integrating it into the built environment, “smart” cities will be in a better position to, in the words of IBM, “seize opportunities and build sustainable prosperity”1 . 6 | Background

2016

Got a problem with your city?

Invest in a digital pill with a healthy dose of ‘technology’ today!

Year

2.3 The critique – The ‘Smart’ City as a Private Agenda Major proponents in the aggressive push for technological integration in today’s world however, are neither its global citizens nor its states. Investors in the drive for the adoption of ‘smart’ city technology are derived from large private corporations advocating the use of their technology, fighting for a slice of this burgeoning pie. Technological corporations, (including IBM, Siemens, Samsung, Cisco, Alphabet and Intel) attempt to pitch technoutopianism and market “sustainability”, often under the guise of “industry best practices” and optimistic terminology.3 They promise suites of technology that once installed, guarantees smooth operations, efficient governments and consistent performance. This dream of “the next” is accompanied by the push for big-data, ubiquitous computing and artificial intelligence, as well as promises that the investments into a data-rich city management service supported by a plethora of sensors peppered throughout all levels of urban infrastructure, will provide “city managers” the data they need to turn their city into a competitive player on the global stage.

The urban models they propose, however, can be applied indiscriminately to cities throughout the world, attempting to appeal to the bureaucrat’s fantasy. They are inherently top-down propositions, advocating for central control in the search for higher efficiencies, and often at the cost of privacy and agency of the inhabitants. In many instances, it is often a pitch of “if you build it, they will come”, with proposals for greenfield smart cities declaring the number of inhabitants that they will play host to. After all, who would not want to live in an advance society where technology hums in the background, providing conveniences in every aspect of their lives? On the other hand, state actors have also been heavily involved in the push for the ‘smart’ city agenda. This includes the Indian government’s “100 Smart Cities Mission” in 2015, China’s “Made in China 2025” manufacturing push and

implementation of the ‘City Brain’4 , and closer to home, Singapore’s ‘Smart Nation’. These nations, where ‘smart’ city movements originate from the ruling government, have often been criticised for enacting states of exclusivity, reinforcing the hegemony of the digerati, or enforcing technocratic rule of the people.5 6 7 This thesis will therefore investigate the propositions put forth by today’s “smart” city advocates, analyzing the current implied future with regards to the next advancement in citymaking. By looking at the path set for us through a historical, architecture and analytical lens, we can discern its impact on the people that matter, the inhabitants of the city, as well as social interactions and agency of the individual in this grand scheme. Perhaps, with better understanding of our current dilemma, we can speculate on an alternative city, one that is truly smart, sustainable and resilient, one that reduces the hierarchical nature of such cities. Perhaps, the hackneyed glass sculptures of architecture today, of superficial aesthetics to attract real-estate investment and speculative capital, could instead be instruments of agency, orchestrating spontaneity and aggregation, allowing the growth of sensor-avoiding intangibles. Perhaps, we could provide the heart to the brains of the “smart” city. The current situation we are in can be framed as a turning point in the evolution of a city and society, where we are just discovering the huge potential that analytical data, unprecedented connectivity as well as boundless virtuality, can help to transform the cities of today, albeit for the betterment or degradation of society - we do not yet know. After all, it has barely been a decade since every individual has in their possession an all-powerful communication and information device in their pockets.

Fig. 2 Sustained and rapid increase of the ‘smart’ city industry. From Technavio‘s research report titled ‘Global smart city market 2020-2024’.8 Background | 7

The Individual, The Society, and The Machine

The approach of city-making and its related theories have always been evolving. This section seeks to investigate the relationship between the stakeholders of the city through the lens of a systems designer in search of a logic within the urban, a convoluted and complex interconnection of people and space. Through such machinic interpretations of society, this thesis looks at how control is enacted over individuals within these systems. This was especially true from the 1920s, as various architects and planners sought to reign in systemic disorganization and to impose a sense of order and structure in an increasingly industrialized urban setting. Within this setting, the approaches ranged from a top-down imposition of order and control, to the planning of no plans (which is to allow individuals to take control of their environments under a framework). Many of these organizational principles borrowed ideas from ‘the Machine’, as planners sought out parallels between the complexity of machines and the intricacies of a living society, borrowing perceived organizational principles between the two fields. The utopic visions visited here may not necessary present practical and straightforward solutions. However, by extracting principles of the era, we might be able to gain insights on rethinking cities and “smartness”.

Image: Neon signs of the Nippombashi District at night, Osaka, Japan, Asia. Photography. Britannica ImageQuest, Encyclopædia Britannica, 25 May 2016. quest.eb.com/search/151_2530421/1/151_2530421/cite. Accessed 5 Jul 2020.

3 THROUGHOUT THE YEARS

1920s

1924 | City as a “Living Machine” Le Corbusier - Plan Voisin

1930s Le Corbusier - Ville Radieuse 1940s

1950s

1948 | Cybernetic Theory Nobert Weiner - Cybernetics: Or Control and Communication in the Animal and the Machine 1950 | Cities as Nerve Centre Nobert Weiner How U.S. Cities can prepare for Atomic War9

1960s

1960 | Network Communes Buckminster Fuller - Geodesic Dome

1956 | City as Mechanism/Mobile Yona Friedman - Villa Spatiale 1960 | City as Organism/Process Kenzo Tange - A Plan for Tokyo

1961 | Impermanent Architecture Cedric Price - Fun Palace

1962 | City as a Tree Aldo van Eyck Steps towards a configurative discipline 1964 | City as a Tree Christopher Alexander Notes on the Synthesis of Form

1965 | City Brain Cedric Price Oxford Corner House

1965 | City as a Semilattice Christopher Alexander A City is Not a Tree

1969 | Cybernetic City Nicholas Schoffer La ville cybernétique 1970s

1969 | Architecture as Control Systems Gordon Pask Systems Thinking in Design & The architectural relevance of cybernetics

1971 | Management cybernetics Stafford Beer - Project Cybersyn & the Viable System Model 1973 | Neoliberal Cities Coup d’état of socialist government Neoliberal Reforms of Chile 1977 | City as a Pattern Christopher Alexander A Pattern Language

10 | The Individual, the Society, and the Machine

1964 | City as Machines Archigram Plug-In-City & The Walking City

1970 | Cybernetic Environment Isozaki Arata - Osaka Expo, 1970 1972 | Metabolist City Kurokawa Kishō - Capsule

1980s

1980 | Rhizomatic Structures Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari A Thousand Plateaus: Capitalism and Schizophrenia

1982 | City as a Corporation Ridley Scott - Blade Runner 1984 | Cyberspace - A paraspace William Gibson - Neuromancer

1990s

1990 | Control Societies Gilles Deleuze Postscript on the Society of Control 1995 | Objectivity Ayn Rand & The Californian Ideology

1989 | World Wide Web Sir Timothy John Berners-Lee

1994 | Cities as Fractals Michael Batty, Paul Longley Fractal Cities: A Geometry of Form and Function

2000s

2005 | Smart Cities Cisco - Connected Urban Development program

2010s

2007 | Smart Cities IBM - Smarter Planet Initiative

20XX

The Individual, the Society, and the Machine | 11

4 THE INDIVIDUAL, THE SOCIETY AND THE MACHINE Explorations of systems to represent society

3.1 City as a Living Machine The machine as an organization framework of the city emerged from the search for a system to reign in chaos and to impose an orderly structure onto a seemingly complex society, one that is composed of disorganized individuals. The investigation begins with Le Corbusier, whose Plan Voisin in 1925 and subsequent Ville Radiuse in 1933 was a response against the scourge of urban sprawl, disorganization and chaos. Under the banner of Modernism, human life was distinguished into four categories: to live, work, leisure and commute, and consequently, the city was designed to fulfil these needs.10 Through his modernist visions of an orderly city and grievance against the existing system, he attempted to address holistically the issues of different scales faced by cities of the industrialization age, advocating for the imposition of logical reasoning and orderly approach based on function towards city planning.

Fig. 3 Plan of Brasilia, an example of modernist ideals in urban planning Image: Lucio Costa; Oscar Niemeyer. Highway axis and `superblocksâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Aerial view. Circa 1957. Artstor, library-artstor-org.library.sutd.edu. sg:2443/asset/HARTILL_12314308

12 | The Individual, the Society, and the Machine

Case Study

Concept Greenfield Unbuilt

Year: 1933 Population Expected: Unspecified Main Stakeholders: Le Corbusier Concept: City as “Living Machine”

Location: Unset

Ville Radiuse | Le Corbusier In place of organic cities, Le Corbusier proposed for a complete tabula rasa of the city, where the city was rebuilt from the ground up. Strict organization, symmetry and function were imposed through a geometric grid of transportation corridors.11 The notion of zoning would divide business districts from the peripheral housing districts, and at the city’s core, a transport hub that connects them all. The business districts consist of 200m-tall monolithic skyscrapers, while the housing district contains 50m-tall housing block, each serving as a vertical village. Grade-separated roads and streets divide each parcel of land, while parks infill the remaining spaces. Function and simplicity would supplant ornamentation as a counterpoint and solution to the ‘urban blight’ of the consumerist society and an industrial world. In place of it, Le Corbusier had the vision of an urban utopia driven by a ‘flawless’ democracy12.

“

Le Corbusier ... imagined cities of tomorrow in 1923 that would be perfectly statistically managed, showcase the latest technologies, and eliminate disorganization and could be built and replicated through systemic, machine-like principles and the application of careful statistical social science.13

”

Halpern, 2015

Relation to Thesis Framing of the city as a “machine” introduced the designation of ‘logic’ and ‘standardization’ into urban planning, that the desires and needs of humans could be condensed and categorized into different sets of standards to be met when designing a city. The traditionally haphazard and chaotic growth of the city is replaced by a streamlined and rational process, showcasing Modernism’s ideal of form following function. Plan Voisin and Ville Radieuse act as precursors towards a systematic and functional approach to placemaking and planning. The machinic theory advocated here could be applied at different scales, from the house to the city, representing a world view that seeks to avoid human misjudgement.14

“

The result of a true geometrical layout is repetition, The result of repetition is a standard. The perfect form.15 Fig. 4 (Top) Ville Radiuse - Le Corbusier

”

Le Corbusier, 1929

Fig. 5 (Bottom) Plan of Ville Radiuse Top Images: Archdaily, AD Classics - Ville Radieuse, Le Corbusier Right Image: Alexander Liberman (American sculptor, painter, photographer, and author, 1912-1999). Le Corbusier. 1954. Artstor, library-artstor-org.library.sutd.edu.sg:2443/asset/ AGETTYIG_10313546541 The Individual, the Society, and the Machine | 13

Concept Retrofit Unbuilt

Case Study

Year: 1959 Population Expected: Unspecified Main Stakeholders: Yona Friedman Concept: “Mobile” architecture

Location: Paris

4.1 Mobile City - Yona Friedman

Ville Spatiale | Yona Friedman

To promote the growth of denser cities given limited land availability16, the Spatial City is a multi-layered three-dimensioned proposal, based on a climatized grid superstructure, a structural skeleton as a fixed element,

within which spaces are divided, filled and refilled by inhabitants ‘at will’ according to their needs. The city is a composition of modules superpositioning and juxtaposing one another, producing an expressive form, termed ‘the aesthetic of randomness’.

The Ville Spatiale was envisioned as an intensification of current cities, densifying without replacing existing buildings.17 Its flexibility and approach of self-planning returned autonomy to the individual, and injected meaning into the spaces of the city. “Mobile’ architecture as such is defined not by the mobility of physical buildings, but the constant redefinition of space and the techniques to enable its realisation through continuous improvisation of the people. Relation to Thesis The structure of the city thus becomes a mechanism for the expression of freedom for the individual, as opposed to a shackle of control. Friedman advocated for a staunch bottom-up approach, proposing empty ‘space’ with minimal infrastructure and ‘architecture without a plan’, away from pre-determination and an obsession of overall aesthetics,18 The architect is relegated to the role of an adviser.

“

There is no such thing as a final result. There is no final equilibrium. It is the transformation of one equilibrium into another. No city is ever frozen. It is transforming; it is all about constant transformation all around us.20

”

Friedman, 2020

Fig. 6 Sketch of the truss mega structure elevated over the earth.

Top Image: Vladimir Belogolovsky. Interview with Yona Friedman: “Imagine, Having Improvised Volumes ‘Floating’ In Space, Like Balloons.” ArchDaily. https://www.archdaily.com/781065/interviewwith-yona-friedman-imagine-having-improvised-volumes-floating-inspace-like-balloons. Published February 24, 2020. Accessed August 4, 2020.‌ Right Image: Seidler L.. Flickr. https://flic.kr/p/26yBunF. Published June 5, 2018. Accessed August 4, 2020.

14 | The Individual, the Society, and the Machine

Throughout Friedman’s proposals, mobility represented the pinnacle of freedom and choice; an individual is in control of where and when he wants to be, together with what he wants to do at that point in space. The removal of shackles to a physical space is the ideal that Friedman, in this proposal aims to provide. This recurring theme is echoed in the Metabolist movement explored later in this thesis. Friedman’s participatory approach towards urban planning has its drawbacks and unaddressed concerns. In part, the economic viability of such a project remained unaddressed, the megastructure of framework appearing to be unfunded and unmanaged.

“

You erect structure like lampposts and attach containers to form houses. No preplanning. You plant these posts wherever you have a possibility.

Lastly, would such a system produce a denser, yet more egalitarian and efficient contemporary city? Friedman’s proposal is for a city without common consensus or way of standardization (an inherently top-down structure), a solution advocated by others in the age of industrialization. In the absence of collaboration between “free” and “autonomous” individuals, how would resource and space be efficiently utilised? Perhaps, lessons from the experimental housing project NEXT21 (1993) could give us clues on accommodating individuality while maintaining structural efficiency.19 Yet, basic terms had to be laid out and pre-planned, such as geometry, performance and construction coordination, which Friedman has rejected in place of a trial and error method, a process that treats architecture as truly temporal and easily built and torn down over and over again.

”

Friedman, 2020

Secondly, Friedman’s assumption that the ability to plan and built one’s spaces is indeed every citizen’s ideal, as well as within their capabilities. Guided by external forces, the architecture of the unplanned would be realised, forming a cohesive, deconflicted whole amongst a radically minimal space frame. This trust demonstrated towards the urban individual has to be called into question, especially in a highly managed and organized society of today. Would the absence of a pre-plan fit into the modern-day condition?

Fig. 7 Sketch of Spatial City, 1958.

Top Image: Yona Friedman. Spatial City; Study (Etude de la ville spatiale). 1958-59. Artstor, libraryartstor-org.library.sutd.edu.sg:2443/asset/AWSS35953_35953_30939403 The Individual, the Society, and the Machine | 15

Evolution through Christopher Alexander’s Theories Christopher Alexander advocated for the re-framing of design problems as systems, arguing that the form that surrounds us is the manifestation of an underlying information structure. The methodology of systems thinking applied to design and form was influenced by the scientific methodology, as well as the theory of cybernetics. The following is an attempt to chronicle the development of the theories he put forth in order visualize our current condition as a system, through the diagrammatic method.

“

We are searching for some kind of harmony between two intangibles: a form which we have not yet designed and a context which we cannot properly describe.

”

Christopher Alexander Notes on the Synthesis of Form, 1964

Left Image: By Michaelmehaffy - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index. php?curid=47871494

16 | The Individual, the Society, and the Machine

4.2 City as a Tree Alexander’s visit to an Indian village in the 1960s was part of his ongoing efforts in understanding Beauty, which emerged from appropriateness and fitness within organized complexity. In “Notes on the synthesis of Form”, Alexander attempted to re-frame “natural” societies, communities that precipitate as a result of incumbent factors and cultural context, societies without a lead designer, as a critique against the phenomena of uncontextualized, ignorant designs. To illustrate the hierarchy of such a system, the ‘‘tree” was subsequently used for the representation of an indian village ( Fig. 8). It sought to condense form into functional elements within an interconnected complex whole.

Fig. 8 Tree structure

A significant counter-proposal towards Alexander’s proposal came from Aldo van Eyck, resulting in a brief spat at a Team 10 meeting in 1962.

Christopher Alexander

Aldo van Eyck

Organized each set of requirements into a diagram, compounded with other diagrams to be a tree of diagrams.

City is a house and house a city. ‘A city is not a city unless it is also a huge house, a house is a house only if it is also a tiny city’ illustrates the concept of recursive organization, of repeating patterns at different scales in a single organism.

“Each element of the decomposition is a subset of those sets above it in the hierarchy”

Fig. 9 Tree diagram applied to an Indian Village.

Left Image: Pertigkiozoglou E. 1960s - Eliza Pertigkiozoglou - Medium. Medium. https://medium. com/designscience/1960s-32969cc82d03. Published March 7, 2017. Accessed April 4, 2020.

“All systems should be familiarized one with the other in such a way that their combined impact and interaction can be appreciated as a single complex system - polyphonic, multirhythmic, kaleidoscopic and yet perpetually and everywhere comprehensible.”24

Fig. 10 Reciprocal images: The city as a house, a house a city - Aldo van Eyck

Right Image: Pisani D. The City of Architecture.; 2016. https://www.carthamagazine.com/wp-content/ uploads/2016/09/24_CARTHA_2016_ISSUE-2_ PISANI.pdf. Accessed April 4, 2020.

The Individual, the Society, and the Machine | 17

4.3 A City is Not a Tree The spat eventually led to Alexander publishing a critical view of the tree as a structure. The ‘tree’ as a structure is an efficient method of compartmentalization, allowing the observer to cleanly designate hierarchy, assign position of components and create sets within a system, satisfying man’s innate tendency to set categories and enforce organization to complexity. However, as the theory of diagrams developed, it was recognized that the “tree” as a diagram was too simplistic as a representation of the city. The tree advocated a structure of isolation. The subdivision of twigs and leaves dictated exclusivity between different discrete branches, leaving no room for overlaps and interconnections, an organization sorely not representative of a world where single spaces often hold multiple realities and identities. 21

Fig. 11 Lattice structure

4.3.1. City as a Semi-Lattice The semi-lattice structure was proposed in place of the dendritic system. It represented a relatively realistic analysis of the city, as the structure allowed for overlaps and communication between different sub-groups, producing multiplicities and ambiguities characteristic of a city. Such is the importance of the property of “overlaps”, that to disregard it in favor of the tree structure, is to trade the “humanity and richness of the living city for a conceptual simplicity which benefits only designers, planners, administrators and developers”22 Multiplicity

More than a collection of shapes. It could art.

Multipli-city

18 | The Individual, the Society, and the Machine

Life & the City

More than an assembly of buildings.

4.4 City as a Pattern Language In the 1970s, Alexander used patterns as a way to describe general solutions to recurring problems, allowing users to generate specific solutions relevant to a unique context. A pattern â&#x20AC;&#x153;describes a problem which occurs over and over again in our environment, and then describes the core of the solution to that problem, in such a way that you can use this solution a million time over, without ever doing it the same way twice.â&#x20AC;? 23 Patterns can be sub-categorized according to the scale at which they occur at (e.g. Urban, Town, House), and could be used in conjunction with one another. For Alexander, a combination of patterns from different scales relevant to the design problem would form a unique solution that can be applied. As such, patterns could be seen as an attempt to codify design situations, providing a set of modular frameworks to approach reality. They are analogous to libraries and modules in programming, where a specific application (language) can be conceived through the combination of distinct code (pattern). Pattern Generalized solution criteria to a situation

meet

Language Rules that define the hierarchy of patterns. Patterns at the same scale correlate with one another

Macro

Mid

Micro

Specific Solution By picking and choosing patterns, a specific and unique solution can be applied to the situation.

+ +

The Individual, the Society, and the Machine | 19

The Cybernetic Framework

4.5 Cybernetics and the Feedback Mechanism

Christopher Alexander was not alone in his application of computational theory as a model for complex systems. Computation moved beyond the functional task of calculation. Introduced in 1948 by Nobert Weiner, cybernetics attempts to dissect the animal, and in later iterations, ecology, human society and architecture.

The theory of cybernetics proposes for an analysis of a system that selfregulates and self-corrects in response to external fluctuations, with the goal of achieving stability (homeostasis), in a world of constraints and possibilities.25 For this to happen, the flow of information is paramount, allowing the system to communicate within itself and collaborate between parts. The constant feedback loop therefore constantly evaluates the expected outcome of the cybernetic model against the actual result, seeking to minimize this difference in the next execution.26 Information, therefore, is an attribute of the system, continuously circulated within the feedback loop to promote development and equilibrium of the overall system. An implication of this framework is the removal of central control from the system, that systems can balance and organize themselves without the presence authoritarian hierarchy Borrowing from the hypothesis that nature is in a constant drive to achieve a position of balance, cyberneticians postulated that human societies and ecosystems could be likewise thought of as a network of feedback loops, each tending towards stability. Feedback loops built upon feedback loops presented in second-order cybernetics subsequently revealed the different levels within an organization or system, self-regulating and regulating sub-systems, thereby placing the observer within the same system as the observed.27

Inputs

Receptor

Effector

Receptor

Evaluation

Execution

Evaluation

Decision

Effect

Outputs

Feedback Correction

First Order Cybernetics

Feedback Observed

Inputs

Feedback Observer Second Order cybernetics

20 | The Individual, the Society, and the Machine

Outputs

4.6 Cybernetics and the City Cybernetics introduced a shift in the field of design, from the conceptualization of a determined design object to responsive and functional systems. It proposed a methodology of architecture and urban design that could begin without a defined final state or definite ‘telos’. Cybernetics questions the anthropocentric approach, positioning humans (and architects) not merely as external controllers, but interwoven into and influenced by a bigger, non-linear complex system, the controller of controls in a second-order cybernetic network.28 It provides us with an alternative framework that contrasts the top-down, bureaucratic approach of framing the city.

Inputs

Outputs

Feedback

Reactive shape that is constantly modified, to best fit desires of occupants

4.6.1. Cedric Price - Fun Palace (1961) The Fun Palace embodied the ideals of cybernetics in its functions and design, incorporating movable elements that could react and be modified by its occupants, allowing infinitely flexible interactions and temporal states. By focusing not on a ‘final’ design that attempts to account and predict for occupant needs and wants, but instead on allowing for obsolescence and the factor of time, Price went against the traditional way of space making. Uncertainties and possibilities are traits of the design, reflected in its temporary panels and shifting

structure. A continuous feedback loop is established between audiences within the Fun Palace and the theatre, the building adapting and changing in form and envelope with respect to interaction, while occupants evaluate and react to each new iteration. This non-plan approach to space-making frames man and the building (in place of the machine) within a symbiotic relationship, each its own agent yet co-dependent on each other, evolving together through constant communication within dynamic environments.

Top Image: Cedric Price, (Artist), British, born 1934. Fun Palace for Joan Littlewood, project Stratford East, London, England Perspective. Drawing date: Unknown, Project date: 1959-61. Artstor, library-artstororg.library.sutd.edu.sg:2443/asset/MOMA_4520008 Right Image: Ernest Binfield Havell. Chapter IX, The Advent of the Moghuls. Indian Architecture, Its Psychology, Structure, and History from the First Muhannadan Invasion to the Present Day. https:// architexturez.net/pst/az-cf-167460-1416290316. Published November 17, 2014. Accessed August 4, 2020. The Individual, the Society, and the Machine | 21

4.6.2. Cedric Price - Oxford Corner House (OCH) (1965-66) The Oxford Corner House (OCH) was envisioned as a 24-hour “information hive’ located in the urban core of London, serving as a communication hub for the community, with facilities and equipment that allowed the public to gather and access information. Through screen projections and information interfaces within, people could request and access stored or live information (e.g. news) through audio and visual mediums, becoming “the people’s nerve centre or City Brain” as proposed by Price.29 To put the foresight that Price had into perspective, the OCH was envisioned before the advent of personal computers, positioning the OCH a prominent prototype of the modern Internet cafe, seeking to be a centralized cybernetic platform that connects people to consolidated information for their training or educational purposes.30 The diagrams of the information systems he proposed closely resembled the computation network we have today, with information flowing from user to the OCH through CCTV monitors and vice versa through dialling a code.

Fig. 12 Electronic communication network diagram, OCH

Besides the information system itself, Price further included in the building’s design the concept of uncertainties and evolution. Adopting ideas from the Fun Palace, the structure of the building accommodated unplanned possibilities, with shifting walls and floors to allow for different user settings. Relation to Thesis The OCH, although limited in its capabilities relative to the computers of today, established the first ideas of architecture extending beyond its physical limits to the city and the world beyond, and beyond its time through informational systems and morphing buildings. Its concepts were ahead of its time, and a modern interpretation of it could add value in the cybernetic discourse in the modern world of ubiquitous computing and virtualisation.

“

It can penetrate through walls, buildings, towns and countries provided the transmission paths are available.32

”

“

Fig. 13 Possible diagrammatic plans of OCH

To embody the future is to be capable of accepting futures’ technology.33

Cedric Price, 1966

Top Images: Cedric Price Fonds, CCA, DR1995:0224:043

22 | The Individual, the Society, and the Machine

”

Sol Cornberg, 1965

Case Study

Concept Greenfield Unbuilt

Year: 1969 Population Expected: Main Stakeholders: Nicholas Schoffer Concept: City as Media Location: Paris

La Ville Cybernétique | Nicholas Schoffer Schoffer was widely considered the first person to create cybernetic art, primarily based on the ideas of Norbert Wiener and the cybernetic feedback loops. In his book “La Ville Cybernetique” (1969), Schoffer proposed a vision of an interactive city, where its inhabitants are immersed and in communication with their environment. Buildings in the city “awash in light and motion“, continuously and constantly sense, adapt and interact with one another through five topologies: 1. Rhythms - patterns 2. Lights - visual 3. Sounds – the audible 4. Climate – both artificial and natural environments 5. Space - experiential Relation to Thesis

La Ville Cybernétique presented one of the first instances of designers coming to terms with cybernetics and its potential at the city scale. It is a predecessor of the modern “smart” city, sharing similar principles in the form of urban computation and sensor deployment.34 It presents the communication of information not limited in the form of digital data in the contemporary smart city, but through alternate mediums as well.

Fig. 14 Cybernetic Light Tower Top Image: “Nicolas Schöffer and Claude Parent, Tour Lumière Cybernétique, 1973” Cureton, Paul & Dunn, Nick. (2014). Future of cities: a visual history of the future.] Bottom Image: Nicolas Schöffer - Monoskop. Monoskop.org. https://monoskop.org/Nicolas_Sch%C3%B6ffer. Published 2015.

Fig. 15 The evocative Sexual Leisure Centre, one of the buildings inhabitants immersed themselves into and are unconsciously influenced by. Top Image: Eléonore Schöffer, Association Internationale des Amis de Nicolas Schöffer (A.N.S.I.) and Graham Foundation The Individual, the Society, and the Machine | 23

4.6.3. Viable System Model – Stafford Beer The Viable System Model (VSM) was the application of cybernetics in the field of management. The model presented a structure that could be applied to any autonomous system or organization that is viable, capable of surviving and adapting to environmental fluctuations. The VSM is often applied to the organization of companies and looks at how different functions of a company at all levels, from basic worker to the executive committee can enact policies and react to changing circumstances. Each level is in constant communication and feedback within as well as without. Using the analogy of the human consciousness, each level of the organization takes up a different role and purpose, where lower levels take up the workings of the autonomic nervous system, the next, cognition and conversation, and at the highest level, higher brain functions, including introspection and decision making.35 Furthermore, each level reacts to a specific condition within the environment. In the case of a corporation, for example, the lower levels of the company interact with customers and gather feedback, while the upper management reacts to market trends and potential exploits.

Relation to Thesis While often applied in the context of a corporation, the VSM is relevant to the organization of a city and its social structure. The individual, community, and governing body may each have their own areas of concerns and needs. Yet, the constant flow of information between its different functions enables the city to act as a single entity to the multi-faceted conditions presented. Although the VSM may hint at a hierarchical pecking order within the organization, more significant is the approach of weighing each subset in terms of its functions and scale of interaction with relation to the larger context. It frames even the lowest subset of the group (in the case of the city, an individual) as being reactive, autonomous and capable of executing its own decisions through its own feedback loop, in contrast to a purely top-down imposition of control.

The VSM provides for a system whereby each component handles autonomously his problems vis-à-vis its environment, providing organizations with flexibility at all levels.36 To borrow a slogan from the United States Air-force doctrine, “centralized control, decentralized execution” (or Auftragstaktik37) is a key tenet of the air-power38. Due to the constantly changing conditions in battles, such an approach allows for inherent flexibility in tactics (execution) amongst the people on the ground, while optimising resources and strategies as an overall organization to ensure the growth of the entire being.

Fig. 16 VSM of a corporation, with purchase and production interlinked with external markets and environment.

Top Image: Mark Lambertz - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/ index.php?curid=59912637

24 | The Individual, the Society, and the Machine

Case Study

Realised Retrofit Built

Year: 1971 - 1973 Main Stakeholders: Stafford Beer, Chilean Production Development Corporation (CORFO) Concept: Urban dashboards Location: Chile, Santiago

Project Cybersyn | Stafford Beer Under the leadership of President Salvador Allende, project Cybersyn was meant to not only demonstrate Chile’s advancement in technology and design, but also to aid in the development of its socialist economy. Under a socialist government, the state took over control of private businesses, turning them into public entities. Project Cybersyn thus presented a method of control to efficiently run and develop these new industries, through the application of cybernetics as spearheaded by Stafford Beer, who had previously done so for businesses. Thus, a network of computers was dreamt up to connect the factories of Chile, although reality fell short as there was only one available computer. Instead, data was sent from factories through telex machines to the operations centre, and through the input and analysis of these data on a computer, decisions could be made. Ultimately, the room was finished but never used, as a military coup in 1973 overthrew the Allende government. The technology presented was also touted to be simply insufficient for actual execution, and was unlikely to be up to the task. Relation to Thesis Project Cybersyn represented one of the first instances of marriage between cybernetics and actual implementation, whereby the flow of information provided immediate feedback and centralized control in a city-level, before the era of the Internet. Furthermore, it expands on the definition of a system, whereby the means of production are brought under state control under the guise of socialism, expanding individual corporation systems to a national level. Moreover, the “smart cities” of today are the effectively intensified versions of Project Cybersyn, where an urban dashboard aggregates data to present indigestible numbers into charts and statistics.

Fig. 17 “Project Cybersyn - The cyber dream of Allende’

“

If cybernetics is the science of control, management is the profession of control39

”

Stafford Beer Applied cybernetics: its relevance in operations research, 1978

Fig. 18 Renders of the operations control room. Top Image: Sergio Vergara Gibbs. El proyecto ultra secreto de Salvador Allende. Blogspot.com. http://ejecolectivo. blogspot.com Published September 23, 2020. Bottom Image: CYBERSYN/Cybernetic Synergy Cybersyn. cl. www.cybersyn.cl/ingles/cybersyn/index.html.‌ Right Image: Stafford Beer. Flickr. https://flic.kr/p/WNBkmR Published August 24, 2017. Accessed August 4, 2020. The Individual, the Society, and the Machine | 25

4.7 Metabolism The cybernetic theory is apparent within the metabolist movement, with many overlaps between the two theories. Metabolism positions the city as a dynamic being in constant flux, reacting to changes in the physical environment through flows of energy and information. (e.g. Isozaki Arata – ‘Invisible City’ ). The genesis of the Metabolist movement was against the backdrop of a Tokyo government designating “Technopolis” and “Teletopia” cities, precursors of “smart” cities today. In these cities, technocratic, all-encompassing mechanisms of control dominated the city from planning to administration, inciting debates on “managed societies” (kanri shakai). Bureaucratic decisions based on “quantitative analysis of data and com pilation of a set of optimum conditions for that society’s well-being” would allow the administration to impose order in chaotic postwar Japan.40 The Metabolism movement proposed a shift in focus on the city as a discrete group of buildings within a pre-defined master plan, to one that is dematerialized, made up of codified “space elements” that allow for alteration and replacement as the situation deems fit and the city evolves. Building elements became adaptive living cells, promoting resilience as a tenet in the identity of post-war Japan.41

Fig. 20 The city in the air by Arata Isozaki Source: Arata Isozaki & Associates via Archdaily

26 | The Individual, the Society, and the Machine

External elements

Feedback Shifts in ‘space elements’ Movement of population Rise and fall in demand

Evolution of the city Fig. 19 Metabolism in a cybernetic framework

Case Study

Concept Greenfield Unbuilt

A Plan for Tokyo | Kenzo Tange Year: 1960 Population Expected: 10,000,000 Main Stakeholders: Kenzo Tange Team Concept: City as an organism Location: Tokyo Bay

Kenzo Tange proposed for a redevelopment of Tokyo that consists of an open network of highways and subways, “around which a ‘transient’ program would create Located above the waters of Tokyo Bay, the scheme called for a linear, urban megastructure, intra-connected by fixed spines of highways and subways, “around which a ‘transient’ program would be created as the needs of the population dictated”43. These transport infrastructures provide elevated mobility, access and expediency to major developments outside the city, and was a proposition removed from the familiarity of urban sprawl at the time. The scheme emphasized on flexibility and decentralization, aligning closely to the metabolist’s view of the city as an organic entity, as one made up of objects that undergoes different metabolic cycles, deteriorating and as such, required replacement at different rates.44 The “civic axis” was thus introduced, its extension biologically analogous to the growth of the spine of a vertebrate animal. “Kenzo Tange declared the goals of his plan of Tokyo redevelopment: 1. To shift from a radial centripetal system to a system of linear development; 2. To find a means of bringing the city structure, the transportation system, and urban architecture into organic unity; and 3. To find a new urban spatial order that would reflect the open organization and the spontaneous mobility of contemporary society.”

Relation to Thesis The plan for Tokyo was a symbolic plan that had a great influenced on planning in Japan, raising awareness of the city not as a permanent and static entity, but instead one that is constantly reacting and renewing to changes within and without, allowing consideration of unforeseen future demands. Its population flows and functions communicate, giving this

“organization its organic life”.45

Fig. 21 Metabolism in a cybernetic framework

This echoes sentiments of Cedric Price’s Fun Palace, albeit on a different scale.

Top Image: Tange Associates, https://en.tangeweb.com/works/works_no-22/ Bottom Image: Kenzo Tange, By Dijk, Hans van / Anefo - [1] Dutch National Archives, The Hague, Fotocollectie Algemeen Nederlands Persbureau (ANeFo), 1945-1989, Nummer toegang 2.24.01.05 Bestanddeelnummer 931-7193, CC BY-SA 3.0 nl, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/ index.php?curid=30756195 The Individual, the Society, and the Machine | 27

Case Study

4.7.1. Kurokawa Kishō At the micro-level, the cybernetics theory could be envisioned in the form of a capsule, the prevalent form that Kurokawa chose to work with under the umbrella of the metabolism movement. The capsule “acts as a feedback mechanism”, enabling occupants the autonomy to receive, filter and transmit desired information while rejecting undesired information, against the constant, uni-direction deluge of information from the outside world. In Kurokawa’s case, the capsule was partially a criticism to the constant bombardment in the information age, where the individual does not have a mechanism to reject information to the central station that is transmitting this information. He further predicts the technocratic society in the information age in two stages. In the first stage, information can be freely purchased with money, where information is commodified. In the second stage, termed “an age of creative information”, obtaining specific information requires one to barter and trade. It is within this framework in which the capsule becomes of value, allowing individuals the ability to control what comes in and out of it.42 Relation to Thesis Architecture is thus envisioned as a defensive communication tool, a bubble of safety, within which the individual, through his assertion of control and independence, is allowed a voice in an overwhelming environment of noise. The front door of the module not only defines a physical private-public boundary, but also delimits a front porch in within the virtual world.

Fig. 22 Nakagin Capsule Tower by Kurokawa Kishō

Top Image: Japan - Tokyo. Ginza. Nakagin Capsule Tower. Architect Kurokawa Kisho, 1972. Photograph. Britannica ImageQuest, Encyclopædia Britannica, 25 May 2016.quest.eb.com/search/126_537330/1/126_537330/ cite. Accessed 1 Aug 2020. Right Image: With modification. By Source, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia. org/w/index.php?curid=57746287

28 | The Individual, the Society, and the Machine

4.7.2. Critiism on Metabolism Metabolism gradually lost traction from the 1970s, its utopic visions of adaptation and resilience left hanging as visions were left unbuilt, the “idea of mutation never took root” and criticisms arose.46 Termed the “capsule area”, the capsule was a biological metaphor for a cell in the organism. Beneath the convenient analogy, these prefabricated, and “customizable” capsules were a symbol of an “architecture for a consumer society”.47 Architecture, through mass production, had been commodified, mutating into an “object of consumption” that could be reduced to numbers and codified. Technology was envisioned to manufacture individual interests and desires, essentially reducing human and their desires into numbers, that could be calculated and manipulated. Although customizable in the insides, these mass-produced objects could be seen as a form of control, a “filing cabinet” for the containment of people. Moreover, although the original intention was a noble vision of customizable capsules that allow for the participation of each inhabitant towards the building’s identity, the reality was a domination of the architect who “merged all the decisions.”, such as in the case of the Nakagin Capsule Tower ( Fig. 22).48 Though utopic in its visions, its eventual failures and disintegrating buildings due to widespread mismanagement reinforced the system that it sought to oppose, of the kanri shakai. However, the concepts of mutation and adaptation could still play a relevant role in the society’s of today, as architects and planners face similar challenges, and seek solutions towards an every growing urgency for resilient cities. With the concepts of virtualisation and cyberspace, the ideas of metabolism could be adopted in different ways given the potentials of technology in mimicking the physical today.

“

The architecture of Metabolism was based on the image of a living cell. That image encompasses notions of growth, division, exchange, transformation, autonomous parts, deconstruction, temporariness, recycling, rings ad a dynamic stability. Capsule architecture was an architectural expression of the living cell.49

”

Kisho Kurokawa,

The Individual, the Society, and the Machine | 29

4.8 Societies of control The critic on the urban technocratic control of cities is not a recent phenomenon. In “Postscript on the Society of Control”, Gilles Deleuze reframed the digital change that has occurred in today’s societies, distinguishing them from societies of the past. This was built upon the work of Foucault and the idea of ‘societies of discipline’, which emerged during the industrial period, where the control occurs in discrete, independent enclosures, such as schools, factories, prisons and office. The individual is engulfed into the masses within distinct environments, each with its own system of rules and rigid order, imposing uniform ‘disciplinary training’ on the worker, the student, the prisoner. In ‘Societies of Control’, in place of rigidity, control occurs in a modulated form, a shapeless all-encompassing monitoring that flows across every aspect of an individual’s life in different manifestations. Systems of control are dispersed and progressive. An example mentioned by Deleuze, and ultimately an accurate prediction, is the use of computers to track individual’s movements and positions, enforcing a ‘universal modulation’ of the human as a data point.

“

Unregulated and unsupervised moments between systems. ‘Enclosures’ of discipline Discipline Society Distinct control systems, with moments without supervision.

Control Societies Omnipresent, modulated control and domination, through technologies of power Fig. 23 Deleuze’s societies illustrated,

Individuals have become “dividuals,” and masses, samples, data, markets, or “banks.”’53

”

Gilles Deleuze, Postscript on the Societies of Control, 1990

It is also important to note the distinction between “discipline” and “control”. For Deleuze, in place of confinement as a means of maintaining discipline, people can be controlled without confinement, through mechanisms that allow people to be ‘free’ while remaining perfectly controlled. For example, a highway multiplies the form of control, allowing the illusion of freedom and autonomy, providing mobility within a set of constraints; it is a mechanism that seeks to limit actions and choices of the individual. As Alexander Galloway puts it, “subjects are liberated as long as they adhere to a variety of prescribed comportments.”50 In another example, instead of enclosing a man within a factory to enforce discipline, society assumes new forms of control through poverty and the debt mechanism, as Man becomes “too poor for debt, too numerous for confinement.”51 Each individual in the control society is unknowingly and invisibly influenced by the institutions of control, believing that their choices and intentions are theirs. 30 | The Individual, the Society, and the Machine

3 7

1 6

Discipline Society Distinct indivisible individuals, each seemingly acting autonomously, yet each indiviudal’s intention is controlled. Attribute 1 Attribute 2 Attribute 3 Control Society ‘Dividuals’, split into discrete datasets, under unconscious, unrecognizable influence and control. Fig. 24 Individuals vs Mass Relationship

4 5

Deleuze’s ‘Societies of Control’ prove to be prophetic, providing insight to the relationship between man and society in a digital society. In many ways, continuous control can occur through cybernetic systems and the feedback loop. Take the digital consumer platforms for example. Through search inquiries and online behaviour of an individual, a company would be able to build a unique profile, which could be subsequently used to provide targeted advertisements, enticing promotions or subtle changes to search results in order to encourage the use of the company’s services. The reception of the individual provides further information on his likes and dislikes, further promoting a continuous feedback mechanism that enables control of the individual.

Anticipated Demand

User reaction & behaviour

Through an individual’s actions, ‘likes’ and ‘retweets’ on social media, only curated content and interactions are promoted to entice users into social media services. Every like, comment or approval received by the individual triggers the pleasure receptors the individual, further encouraging its usage. Moreover, search engine giants and social media platforms are in a continuous process of improving their search and recommendation algorithm. It is the basis of their business strategy and within their corporate interest to predict effectively what would be of interest to users next, and entice users to continue using these products, forming close “echo chambers” that aligns and reinforces individual thoughts and beliefs.52 Profiteering companies and their algorithms can thus be framed in the role of the observer, within second-order cybernetics, and illustrates the merger of the two theories of control in society.

Control / Enslavement

Feedback

Profit / End Goal Fig. 25 The cybernetic feedback loop applied towards Metabolism

Virtual interfaces and operating systems enclose the individual within a calculative and perpetual system of control, in a seamless loop of conditioned desire and award through cyberspace. Deleuze’s ‘Societies of Control’ therefore reveals a fundamental transformation in the position of individuals in society into manipulatable data points, as a consequence of ubiquitous computing and communication technology.

“

Enclosures are molds, distinct castings, but controls are a modulation, like a self-deforming cast that will continually change from one moment to the other, or like a sieve whose mesh will transmute from point to point. This is obvious in the matter of salaries: the factory was a body that contained its internal forces at a level of equilibrium, the highest possible in terms of production, the lowest possible in terms of wages; but in a society of control, the corporation has replaced the factory, and the corporation is a spirit, a gas.54

”

Gilles Deleuze, Postscript on the Societies of Control, 1990

The Individual, the Society, and the Machine | 31

4.9 The Pursuit of Self-Interest Objectivism, outlined by Ayn Rand in her books from the 1940s, is a philosophical system that placed the pursuit of self-interest as the central moral purpose on one’s life. Rand described Objectivism as follows:

“

The concept of man as a heroic being, with his own happiness as the moral purpose of his life, with productive achievement as his noblest activity, and reason as his only absolute.59

”

Ayn Rand Atlas Shrugged, 1957

Humans should only pursue things that are beneficial to themselves, based on rational knowledge through reasonable judgement. Expanding on the philosophical system, Rand advocated for laissez-faire, capitalism, whereby state regulation and control is absent from the mechanisms of the market. Every individual has the moral “right” to liberty and the pursuit for and maximising of his interests through rationality, termed “rational egoism”. Societies have the right to self-determination.55 The state’s duty is limited to the protection of these rights, often linked to

Right Image: All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace (2011), Film Poster, IMDB

32 | The Individual, the Society, and the Machine

“minarchism”, in the form of policing, defensive (against foreign elements), judiciary, executive and legislative roles. Taking a neoliberal standpoint, the free-market is recognized as the best mechanism for the expression of these rights, and private ownership and exchange forms the basis of the system. Adam Curtis, in his 2001 documentary “All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace“ connected objectivism to “The Californian Ideology”. The ideology saw a rise in popularity in the 1990s, widely advocated by techentrepreneurs of Silicon Valley. Written by Richard Barbrook and Andy Cameron, it envisioned a techno-utopia in which individuals work for their own happiness and gain, and selfgovern without the presence of traditional state authority within stabilized societies aided by computers predicting risks. The ideology set itself in the context of an increasingly networked, postindustrial knowledge-based neoliberal economy, projecting an extremely optimistic future where machines and the free market emancipates man from traditional political control, free to pursue his own self-interests and becoming “Randian heroes”.56 57

Fig. 26 Documentary poster

Criticisms However, we see the consequences of these forms of intense neoliberalism in today’s world. Within rapidly urbanising regions, we see mass dispossession of those who cannot afford land, participate in the market or have access to technology and knowledge, resulting in their displacement and exclusion in development. Symptoms, such as “fortress cities” of walls and gated communities broadcasting enclaves of exclusivity from the have to the have nots, are the acute expression of inequality in recent years. Criticisms of “The Californian Ideology” echoes similar sentiments, where such a system would only increase social stratification and reinforce social immobility. The resulting commodification of personality, interaction and emotion would

only lead to a consolidation of power for private technological corporations led by the digerati. Curtis concluded in his documentary that instead of the liberation promised by the Ideology, it resulted in “Randian heroes” trapped in a rigid system of control from which they are unable to escape.58 In the following chapters, this thesis would explore the networked society of individuals and machines in the cities and “smart” cities of today, drawing parallels between the world envisioned by Rand, Barbrook and Cameron with the current condition. Many of the criticisms brought up against these ideologies can be like-wise levelled on the the “smart” cities of today.

Today, the conflict has reached its ultimate climax; the choice is clear-cut: either a new morality of rational self-interest, with its consequences of freedom, justice, progress and man’s happiness on earth — or the primordial morality of altruism, with its consequences of slavery, brute force, stagnant terror, and sacrificial furnace.

Ayn Rand, For the New Intellectual, 1961

Right Image: Ayn Rand. Photograph. Britannica ImageQuest, Encyclopædia Britannica, 31 Aug 2017. quest.eb.com/search/139_1844884/1/139_1844884/cite. Accessed 1 Aug 2020. The Individual, the Society, and the Machine | 33

4.10 Rhizomatic structure The analogy of the rhizome was used in framing information structures in the book “A Thousand Plateus”60 by Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari. In it, they used the biological analogy of rhizomes to describe a polycentric, non-hierarchical, horizontally networked system, in contrast to a hierarchical dendritic system. Without a pre-assigned order, the degrees of connection of each node becomes the organizing principle within the network, with each node interconnected with its closest adjacent neighbours.61 The nodes are in constant communication with one another, and as a whole, displays characteristics of self-assembling, selforganizing complex systems. Knowledge systems, as apparent in the networked society of today, are both “intensely horizontally networked, arborescent, clustered as well as cascading”.62

“ “

Principles of connection and heterogeneity: any point of a rhizome can be connected to anything other, and must be.

”

We’re tired of trees. We should stop believing in trees, roots, and radicles. They’ve made us suffer too much. All of arborescent culture is founded on them, from biology to linguistics. Nothing is beautiful or loving or political aside from underground stems and aerial root, adventitious growths and rhizomes.66

”

Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari, A Thousand Plateaus: Capitalism and Schizophrenia, 1980

Though initially used to describe information structures, the rhizomatic organization has been proposed as a framework for a “neo-organic” and network society.63, 64 With the advent of the Internet and subsequent presence of ubiquitous and pervasive computing, representing decentralized nodes, and persistent and “flat” connectivity between them through cyberspace, society today displays the characteristics of a rhizomatic structure. 65 Each individual is plugged-in to a network of instantaneous constant communication, with seemingly no start nor end, no centralized command. The rhizomatic structure, therefore, appears at the surface to be a framework that emphasizes on the collective network as a whole, rather than focusing on significant individual nodes. Could this be a technical solution for direct democracy and for the liberation of oppressed individuals toward collective emancipation? On the other hand, though often cited as a rhizomatic structure, the Internet today is by no means an entirely non-hierarchical, “flat” network. Instead, external influences such as capitalism have led to manipulation and control within a supposedly democratic and neutral network and will be discussed later in the book. Could rhizomatic structures be devised ironically as a tool for mass enslavement and control instead?

34 | The Individual, the Society, and the Machine

Fig. 27 Rhizomatic structure visualized, with node sizes determined by degree of connections instead of by vertical hierarchy.

4.11 Conclusions Throughout this chapter, the power dynamics between the individual and authority in relation to machines have been investigated. Specifically, this chapter dives into the various technological mechanisms and frameworks of control state agents have on citizens within the context of a city. Moreover, this chapter not only reveals the instruments of control over the individual. Contrastingly, it brings about the question of ‘freedom’ of the individual. What does it mean to be an autonomous individual? For the Metabolists and Friedman, freedom exists within mobility, in the ability of an individual to move within the system on demand in reaction to contextual changes, whether through pods and modules or through re-conceptions of space. For both theories, a centralized pre-plan is required for the framework (e.g. megastructure), after which many independent decisions on the individual level take over the system. Moreover, the mobility and nomadic nature of the systems proposed by the Metabolists and Friedman illustrates a scenario of freedom that is fundamentally atypical of a traditional state controlled society. A hyper-mobile population that moves in and out of and within states would be difficult to impose order on and govern, in contrast to the nations of today where governments seek to keep track of the movements of citizens through border control measures such as passports and census. After all, a non-stationary fluctuating population would

reduce the power and need for a permanent government, as there are no ‘citizens’ to govern. Within cybernetics, the rhizomatic framework and objectivism, freedom thrives in the absence of centralized authoritative control and the ability to make decisions according to one’s own judgement. Decentralization and individual autonomy give rise to the organic growth of the overall society, in place of a pre-planned society. Yet, within these implied freedoms, Deleuze presents a case whereby these ‘freedoms’ are limited and are merely perceived. The presence of technology leads to the modulation of control, no matter the location, whether physical or virtual. Societies of control render no individual truly ‘free’ within a networked society, even in the absence of state control. Beneath this perceived ‘freedom’, a degree of control is inherently baked into the system that individuals exist within. For example, in the case of cybernetics, individuals are constantly enslaved in the system’s search for stability. Within the techno-utopia of Ayn Rand and the ‘Californian Ideology’, freedom through rationality succumbs to divisive corporate power. Power and control had merely been transferred, not reduced. It is therefore within the analysis of these theories from which the critique on the “smart” city can be framed, where recurrent themes, mutated problems or fundamentally different challenges faced in today’s “smart” cities can be extracted in later chapters.

The Individual, the Society, and the Machine | 35

In Cyberspace

Our investigations into the current trends of ‘smart’ cities begins within cyberspace, or more specifically the increase in connectivity, prevalence of information systems and explosion of communication channels across this timeless, nonspatial domain. As digital technology pervades into physical cities today, devices (or portals) used to access this domain become ubiquitous, invoking fundamental changes in the social and economical order within cities. This chapter seeks to gain a better understanding on cyberspace, forming a basis upon which we can evaluate the technology-infused cities of today.

Fig. 28 Egyptian demonstrations against the dictator Mubarak, part of the Arab Spring movement which was significantly facilitated by social media.67 Image: Anti-Mubarak Protesters Continue to Occupy Tahrir Square In Cairo. Photography. Britannica ImageQuest, Encyclopædia Britannica, 25 May 2016. quest.eb.com/search/115_3813642/1/115_3813642/cite. Accessed 5 Jul 2020.

“

A consensual hallucination experienced daily by billions of legitimate operators, in every nation... A graphic representation of data abstracted from the banks of every computer in the human system. Unthinkable complexity. Lines of light ranged in the nonspace of the mind, clusters and constellations of data. Like city lights, receding... 68

”

Neuromancer, William Gibson, 1984

“

The WorldWideWeb (W3) is a widearea hypermedia information retrieval initiative aiming to give universal access to a large universe of documents.69

”

WWW project The first ever webpage, 1989

“

Cyberspace is a completely spatialized visualization of all information in global information processing systems, along pathways provided by present and future communications networks, enabling full copresence and interaction of multiple users, allowing input and output from and to the full human sensorium, permitting simulations of real and virtual realities, remote data collection and control through telepresence, and total integration and intercommunication with a full range of intelligent products and environments in real space.70

”

“

A physical domain resulting from the creation of information systems and networks that enable electronic interactions to take place. . . . Cyberspace is a manmade environment for the creation, transmittal, and use of information in a variety of formats... Cyberspace consists of electronically powered hardware, networks, operating systems and transmission standards.71

”

Strategic Warfare in Cyberspace Gregory J. Rattray, 2001

Liquid Architectures in Cyberspace Marcos Novak , 1991

“

Cyberspace is a global domain within the information environment whose distinctive and unique character is framed by the use of electronics and the electromagnetic spectrum to create, store, modify, exchange, and exploit information via interdependent and interconnected networks using information-communication technologies.72

”

Daniel T. Kuehl From Cyberspace to Cyberpower: Defining the Problem, 2009

“

Cyberspace is a global and dynamic domain (subject to constant change) characterized by the combined use of electrons and electromagnetic spectra, whose purpose is to create, store, modify, exchange, share and extract information.73

”

Marco Mayer, Niccolò de Scalzi, Luigi Martino, Iacopo Chiarugi International Politics in the Digital Age: Power Diffusion or Power Concentration?, 2013

38 | In Cyberspace

5 DEFINITIONS OF CYBERSPACE

5.1 Ambiguous Definitions ‘Cyberspace’ is a term without fixed definition, described through different terms depending on country, profession, context and time. 74 These contexts can range from fictional narratives (Gibson, 1984), architectural perspective (Novak, 1991), technical (WWW project, 1989) and most commonly, in defence in relation to cybersecurity and national threats (Rattray, 2001)(Kuehl, 2009). The implication of most of these definitions seems to imply the fact that this ‘domain’ is a multidimensional space. It is at once physical and virtual. It is located within physical electronic hardware, embodied within the flow data transmission, of electrons and radio-waves. Yet, these flow of bits

and bytes would only form cyberspace if there is a transfer of information, which locates cyberspace within a digital, intangible knowledge space. Within architecture and urban design however, definitions of cyberspace seem to extend beyond the previous technical definition of cyberspace into space not only limited by the hardware that hosts it. According to Novak (1991)75, it includes ‘products and environments in real space’, taking the physical shape of spaces under the ‘influence’ of the network. Moreover, the degree of this ‘influence’ varies, and is categorized by Yehuda E. Kalay and John Marx (2001) into four degrees of influence as shown in Fig. 29.76

5.2 Range of Cyberspace Physical

‘Hyper-reality’ Close replica of the physical world, through methods such as simulation of laws of physics and light raytracing in order to recreate space indistinguishable to real space. Emphasis on realism.

Cyberspace

‘Abstracted reality’ Retains a high degree of real space qualities, and does not attempt to emulate real world space in absolute detail. For example, one may not walk and see through walls in this space, but is allowed to teleport into different locations on demand.

‘Hybrid’ Vague and uncanny resemblance to real space, with incorporation of limited elements and laws of the physical world. Similar to surrealism in paintings.

‘Hyper-virtuality’ Avoidance of the familiar, with no resemblance to real space, with its own set of rules, and ‘challenges our sense of reality, materiality, time and enclosure of space’.

Fig. 29 Types of cyber-environments in relation to physical space.77

In Cyberspace | 39

6 PROPERTIES OF CYBERSPACE

6.1 Privacy and Tracking Activities within cyberspace are by default, logged and stored (in contrast with the physical world). The use of services on the Internet inevitably leaves behind digital footprints that are immediately captured and preserved within cyberspace, whether for benign or detrimental purposes at the individual’s expense. In many cases, companies adopt a “collect first, ask later” policy. They do not know how these data would be utilized, or have an efficient means to mine through the data at the time of collection. However, they continue to store every interaction and information of the individual in the event that one day, there might be a means to capitalize on such data.78

“

”

On the Internet, nobody knows you’re a dog.

“

Cartoon caption, Peter Steiner, The New Yorker, 1993

Cartoon caption, Merlyna Lim, 2012

Existence in cyberspace has rapidly been taken over by large corporations functioning for private interests, polarizing all of cyberspace. These soft infrastructure giants functioning as “digital gatekeepers” not only serve, but track its users.79 As cyberspace spills over into real space, this characteristic of cyberspace threatens to redefine space in the physical world, as will be elaborated on in our investigation on “smart” cities.

LESS O N S F ROM C Y B E RS PACE

Physical VS Digital Market Places In traditional physical market places, the buyer’s interaction with the seller only comes at the point of sale. However, within the virtual marketplaces such as Amazon, every movement and interaction within the marketplace in cyberspace is logged. This includes what a visitor has been browsing through (pre-purchase decision making), a customer’s location and time spent on a purchase (down to the exact coordinates and seconds), as well as where they come from and what devices are they using. These data reveal consumption patterns to retailers, allowing them to better target and “hook-in” customers at various stages of their lives. In some cases, these companies know more about an individual than the individual himself. A hypothetical scenario not far from reality allows algorithms to accurately predict a woman’s early stage pregnancy without direct communication between the company as the customer, purely based on consumption patterns, browsing history and location data.80

40 | In Cyberspace

”

On the Internet, everybody knows you’re a dog.

Fig. 30 Physical market places with each store as discreet individuals. Imagine if the market owner was to have the ability to follow you around, looking from behind and noting what you looked at, considered and bought. This scenario is the default reality in digital markets.

6.2 Fluidity in Form and Space Form in cyberspace is most commonly communicated by visual representations through an interface. Yet, such forms are fundamentally different from that in the physical domain. As expressed by Markos Novak (1991), form in cyberspace unconstrained by physical laws, logic and rules. They do not conform to physical expectations and can rotate, bend and mutate in interaction with its inhabitant.81 As a result, it frees the designer in his expression of space, allowing him to define his own laws (whether simulating actual physical space or delving into a surreal representation of space). It gives ‘rise to new ideas about risk, consequence and relationship’82. Furthermore, there exists multiple representations of a single set of data, each different in its conveyance of spatiality and meaning.

There are two implications to this property that are focused on in this thesis. Firstly, the ability to metamorphosize, and animate cyberspace, to replicate as close as possible to real space, allows for a translation of an indestructible copy of the physical world in cyberspace. Experiments, “gamification” and trails can be done in the physical world simulation without permanent physical consequences. Secondly, it allows for the cyberspatially enhanced objects to “vacillate”, morphing and modifying within different spatial and digital contexts, changing in property, identity and formal configurations within both real and digital spaces. Through the opening of connections between spaces across vast distances, or superimposing data over real space, or controlling the physical through actuators and sensors, cyberspace has the ability to bridge over and manipulate the physical environment.

L ESSO NS FRO M CYBERSPACE

Digital Twins and Simulations This has manifested in architecture in the form of digital twins, where a building is built digitally in parallel to iron out kinks and conflicts in the construction process before costly real-world errors occur. Furthermore, the existence of a digital twin model of Singapore, “Virtual Singapore” allows for public, private and research sectors to test-bed concepts and services, plan and make decisions before actual physical implementation.83 The ability for simulation within a reversible cyberspace has allowed for preemptive solutions to the physical world, and is a property that could be useful in the development of a future city.

Fig. 31 Virtual Singapore model and simulation Top Image: nrf.gov.sg/programmes/virtual-singapore Bottom Image: Video from TODAYonline, www. youtube.com/watch?v=9byat0VhqFk

In Cyberspace | 41

6.3 Fluidity in Identity In addition to fluidity in space, cyberspace provides visitors with the ability to change who they are or what defines them. Aided by the ability to remain anonymous from the physical self, true-identity can be masked. This may include their location, name or even culture and social standing. Besides fluidity in a single identity, an individual can own multiple identities within cyberspace. In some cases, individuals are in control of how they would like to present themselves to others (e.g. setting profiles on social media), and at times, these identities are completely disconnected from real-world identities. Modernizing Erving Goffman’s dramaturgical perspective within sociology, cyberspace has reinforced and facilitate, ever more so, the ability for an individual to rapidly switch his ‘front stage’, presenting different ‘selves’ to different audiences in different settings.84 What does it mean as ‘I myself am?’ This property of cyberspace brings about questions of identity and what defines an individual. Would it be the centralized identity that nation-states provide us with? Or has it been eroded by one’s identities stored in the servers of a few large corporations online? The definition of identity in cyberspace is devoid of traditional identifiers such as geographic location, culture, or even a permanent name. Instead, an entity, whether human or not, is known by one of their many aliases, an ‘ambiguous, disembodied electronic identity’ as Mithcell portrayed in his book ‘City of Bits’85. As argued by Castells, cyberspace and informational capitalism has lead to a reduction in the importance of the traditional identity. Competition and globalization dilute and disrupt conventional identifiers, as individuals and communities ‘reinvent’ themselves within cyberspace. Furthermore, the culture that can be observed today is significantly ‘intertwined’ with a mobile and evolving world culture, termed the culture of ‘real virtuality’ through cyberspace.86 On the other hand, corporations do not need to know an individual’s traditional identity, only identifiers that allow them to tag a virtual identifier (e.g. advertising ID) with past behaviours and preferences. Identity of the cyber-citizen has therefore become blurred and fluid, and traditional identity rendered less important.

L ESSO NS FRO M CYBERSPACE

In “Neuromancer” In his 1984 fiction novel, William Gibson protrayed, and perhaps forebode, a virtual city in which traditional markers of identity, such as gender, race and nation, have all become subjective. Identity is commodified, and citizens could purchase “skins” and explore a second self.90

Fig. 32 Neuromancer Book cover art Top Image: Artwork by Josan Gonzalez. Book by William Gibson

L ESSO NS FRO M CYBERSPACE

Digital Identity Implementations Countries around the world have begin to establish digital identities for citizens in a bid for authentication during the use of governmental digital services. In Singapore, the establishment of the ‘National Digital Identity’ developed by GovTech allows for private and public services to have a trsuted platform in dealing with citizens and other businesses.87 Estonia has one of the most developed system in place, with its ‘e-identity’ replacing and surpassing traditional card ID functions, allowing citizens to sign and identify themselves to vote, conduct businesses, engage state services, park any many more.88 In ‘democracy.earth’, identity comes in twofold, to proof whether an entity is human and unique. It uses a combination of algorithms that infer humanity through interactions, and blockchain to issue a unique certificate for the entity.89

42 | In Cyberspace

6.4 Controlled Freedom Though initially a representation of individual freedom, universal access and egalitarian approach, control is ironically an inherent attribute within the Internet and cyberspace from the very beginning. Man-made and designed, all space within it has an author behind. Neutrality within cyberspace is not guaranteed, as each space (in otherwords, web-page) undergoes the process of analysing visitor flows and information presentation during design. “Agency” in cyberspace is therefore not a given, although it might appear to be so at first glance.91 While there are no direct commands from the controlled to the controller, cyberspace remains, at the very least, a biased space, seeking to influence and guide users into certain actions and decisions. This issue has become apparent, now more than ever, as recent discourse on online manipulation and privacy brings to light the unprecedented challenge that different societies and countries face today. Moreover, the Panopticon, as mediated by Foucault, has become a relevant metaphor in the description of space injected with or within cyberspace, and has been frequently used in the analysis of cyberspace in academic literature92 93. The proliferation of constant online surveillance, and by implication domination, conducted by state, companies and third parties on cyberspace activities without being observed themselves, describes the mechanisms of the Panopticon. Servers and web-pages hosted by corporations allow and log access requests of clients, ‘seeing without being seen’94. Users in cyberspace may refrain from actions, disciplining themselves, as a result of being under the ‘gaze’ of surveillance.

“

I imagined the web as an open platform that would allow everyone, everywhere to share information, access opportunities, and collaborate across geographic and cultural boundaries.97

”

Tim Berners-Lee, Inventor of the Web, 2017

Fig. 33 Plans for a Panopticon prison

Outside the metaphor of the Panopticon, this asymmetry of power affects not only how individuals think, but how their thought is shaped. The term ‘filter bubble’ coined by Eli Pariser95, exists within metaphorical ‘walled gardens’.96 of search engine and social media environments. Users are manipulated and shown news and feeds conforming to their own believes and interests, encouraging their continued use of services, stuck in a feedback loop as illustrated in Chapter 4. Control mechanisms within cyberspace exist in the background, ‘out of sight’ and thus, out of the mind of the individuals participating in cyberspace. These control mechanisms extend towards physical space, forming societies of control as outlined by Deleuze highlighted in the previous chapter.

Fig. 34 Conceptual computer artwork showing a network, with the cubes arranged radially and connected to a central server, reminiscent of the panapticon..

Top Image: Photograph. Britannica ImageQuest, Encyclopædia Britannica, 31 Aug 2017. quest.eb.com/search/132_1503289/1/132_1503289/cite. Accessed 28 Jul 2020. Bottom Image: Network. Photography. Britannica ImageQuest, Encyclopædia Britannica, 25 May 2016. quest.eb.com/sear ch/132_1304792/1/132_1304792/cite. Accessed 28 Jul 2020.

In Cyberspace | 43

6.5 Inclusive, yet exclusive However, the (arguably voluntary) illusion of freedom continues to facilitate expressive speech and activities throughout cyberspace. The barriers to enter space within cyberspace continues to be reduced as technology becomes more accessible to the general masses, and ‘freedom’ is embodied within the ability of Internet users to interact or visit the many spaces within cyberspace. As the technology to access cyberspace becomes gradually cheaper (e.g. smartphone, Internet data plans), the number of unique users and communities grow with more people coming online. At the same time, individuals may easily spend all day within cyberspace, without having a sense of how it works, nor any inkling of the oddities and illegal goods that can be found on the ‘darknet’. Online forums have also been described as “digital villages” within the Singapore context, where the ‘Kampong spirit’ (Malay for ‘village’) describes the sense of belongingness between ‘villagers’, stemming from close and frequent interactions, bonded by a common interest or sense of purpose.98 These ‘villages’ (forums) are self-governed and self-stabilized (moderated) by ‘village heads’ (community moderators), practising self-surveillance to protect common interests and norms. Moreover, some of these

Fig. 35 Community driven online forums and bazaars, termed as ‘digital villages’ Top Image: Logos from respective companies.

44 | In Cyberspace

communities serve as trading platforms connecting the ‘haves; to have-nots’, the surplus of supply to demand ( Fig. 35), while others gear towards common interests or locations. These characteristics present a case for an ‘inclusive’ cyberspace, where the marginalized and included can gather on a common platform. On the flip side, cyberspace is a heterogeneous space that favours those with better connectivity to it. Access to spaces is determined by factors including but not limited to rights, ‘pay-walls’, activeness, speed of connection, language and many more. The ‘Informational Superhighway’ is plagued with structural inequalities, especially in areas where access to the Internet is not necessarily guaranteed nor economical.99 Besides being tied to geographical inequality, gated communities exist within cyberspace itself. Exclusive online communities granting access only through authenticated connections with existing members and paid access are the most common barriers to free-entry and universal accessibility, translating economic divide into accessibility divide. In a later part of the thesis, an observation can be made of ‘smart’ cities displaying similar exclusive characteristics according to one’s economic status and ‘connectedness’.

6.6 Outliers and Radicals Behind the web-pages we access frequently, behind the generated search engine results, lying within the deep web, is the dark web, unindexed and intentionally hidden from regular browsers. It is host to benign and illicit purposes such as criminal activities, black markets and trafficking to name a few. The dark web thus represents the underbelly of the cyberspace, outlawed space that anyone can access with the proper tools, but hidden away from view, untraceable and democratic. Besides the dark web, Virtual Private Network (VPN) release an individual from the constraints of his physical location anchored by his physical interface. These physical locations often form the identity of the individual, along with his unique IP address, As such, by ‘tunnelling’ through to another location and computer, VPNs allow the spoofing of identity and grants a level of anonymity to the individual, a pre-emptive measure against the common practices dictated by corporate companies. It allows users to exist within cyberspace under false identity by masking his true, ‘real’ space. ( Fig. 37) Piracy represents yet another subversion of the heavily corporatised and commodified cyberspace. Through P2P networks and file-sharing systems, cyber-pirates circumvent paid exclusive content and copyright laws. In other words, as discussed in previous chapters, piracy represents an anti-liberal approach, private ownership is discarded in place of sharing. Furthermore, since digital content can be copied and shared without degradation and at times, without tracking, piracy represents a threat to the capitalist cyberspace. Moreover, these anti-establishment concepts are often illustrated with corresponding real-world metaphors. The dark web is illustrated as the bottom of a deep -sea iceberg ( Fig. 36), VPNs as tunnels ( Fig. 37), and piracy, as ‘pirates’.

Surface Web Indexed, accessible. Deep Web Unindexed, access.

hard

Dark Web Hidden, Accessible only with proper tools Fig. 36 The Internet as an ‘ice berg’, to illustrate the depth and proportion of the deep web and dark web.

The Internet V P N Server

Client

Address: A Location: 1

VPN Tunnel Secured, encrypted

Address: B Location: 2

Fig. 37 Concept of the VPN, allowing secure tunnels to anonymise individuals through the masking of identity and location..

The concepts of the dark web, VPN and piracy provides another layer to the concept of cyberspace, which is at times wholly different, yet familiar to its physical counterparts.

In Cyberspace | 45

6.7 Interactive Feedback systems The ability to manipulate and design cyberspace allows for organizations to precisely curate experiences and present information according to how they want users to behave or information to disseminate. More importantly, the interactivity of cyberspace allows for organizations to collect information based on pre-defined metrics, by setting up purpose-built environments for data collection.

Urban Dashboard As cities increase in dimensions and physical size, they become increasingly complex, difficult to understand and chaotic to manage. An Urban Dashboard aims to provide and aggregation and visual representation of data that would otherwise be technically difficult to access and understand. In some cases, open Urban Dashboards such as BarcelonaNow allows users to add, combine and modify maps and representation styles to fit their analysis.

Dublin Dashboard | Maynooth U. with Dublin City Council

Dublin Dashboardâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s interactive and real-time data collection and representation presents an inclusive platform for citizens, public sector workers and businesses to gather concise and up to date information from. Raw data collected from sensors is modelled and analyse into digestible visual graphics and statistics.100 With accessible data, stakeholders would be better informed in their decisions, and would allow for higher transparency as citizens are able to hold accountable leaders for their policy implementation. Having been more involved in the performance of the city, citizens would be engaged in the larger scale picture and have a larger-stake and better understanding in society.

Fig. 38 Dashboard UI to access different sectors of information for Dublin Dashboard

Singapore Dashboard | Singapore Department of Statistics

Fig. 39 Publicly accessible interactive visualization presenting population statistics from singstat.gov.sg Top Image: Screenshot from www.dublindashboard.ie Bottom Image: Screenshot from www.singstat.gov.sg

46 | In Cyberspace

L ESSO NS FRO M CYBERSPACE

Digital Public Square (DPS) DPS is a Not-for-Profit organization that seeks to engage citizens through the provision of new interactive platforms and tools, even within societies where avenues of participation and expression are limited or downright suppressed. “By building new platforms and providing new and innovative tools designed to increase digital spaces for free expression, open political dialogue, and engagement where citizen participation and civil society is threatened, the Digital Public Square project seeks to enable agoras where the largest possible number of active participants can debate, share, and form opinions.”101

These digital ‘agoras’ include the ‘gamification’ and the use of intuitive interactive elements to enhance feedback processes, improving accessibility and interests within the community. Fig. 42 Screenshot of an interactive game, “Bad Boss”, on labour rights in the workplace in China

Collab | Sidewalk Lab and Digital Public Square Collab is a digital platform on which the public is engaged with interactive graphics in a gamelike setting, where choices as well as their accommodating background trade-offs and benefits are presented to the participant. This allows the public to put themselves in the shoes of planners and actively make decisions or propose events for a given space on accordance to their own experience. An analysis of the aggregation of choices would in theory provide planners with insights on the values and social preferences of people in the public setting. It provides individuals with a stake in the planning of space, returning citizens a sense of autonomy. Moreover, this method of engagement further deepens the understanding that the public has on the costs and benefits of programs decided.

Fig. 40 Graphics of a choice presented in Collab UI

Fig. 41 Flowchart of process Top Images:: Screen captures from digitalpublicsquare.org interactive forum.

In Cyberspace | 47

6.8 Heralding Different Systems of Democracy Cyberspace provides for new forms of previously unfeasible systems of democracy, due to some of its properties mentioned in previous sections. The ability to anonymize yet identify, discuss and partake in real time, as well as a system of transparency (through open source softwares) and non-hierarchy, form the basis for a system of liquid democracy.

Normal Indirect Democracy Within normal indirect democracies common in nations today, professional politicians represent the interest of the people in discussions on politics in parliament. Such a system exists as it is not feasible for all citizens to physically gather, discuss, come to a consensus, and make a decision (as in ancient Greece), due to complexity and sheer population size in today’s society. Instead, citizens vote for a political representative, who will make decisions on behalf of electors based on their views. ( Fig. 43)However, such a system eliminates the common man from a large part of policy formation for an entire election term, and may not have the resolution to represent the ‘true’ will of the people due to rigid political divisions and parties.

Fig. 43 Indirect, representative democracy

Liquid Democracy Liquid democracy, on the other hand, allows for the citizen to voice opinions, and vote for all issues, even if not full-time politicians, at any time. Each citizen votes for a person that he trusts who will best represents his belief on a certain topic and make informed decisions, and could retract his vote at any time, or step up to represent himself. The hierarchy of the traditional democratic system is disrupted. ( Fig. 44) This form of direct democracy has been made viable by modern technology and cyberspace, where people gather online, facilitated by collaborative tools that promote discussions. Voting takes place online, allowing all citizens to partake in policy formation. Cyberspace could be a representation of the agora of ancient Greece, where democracy was first recorded. It was a space of gathering and assembly for economical and social activities, as well as, political debate.

Fig. 45 The Agora of ancient Rome Top Image: Delphi, Roman Agora and Parnassus. Photograph. Britannica ImageQuest, Encyclopædia Britannica, 25 May 2016. quest.eb.com/ search/109_135996/1/109_135996/cite. Accessed 29 Jul 2020.

48 | In Cyberspace

Fig. 44 Direct, liquid democracy

L ESSO NS FRO M CYBERSPACE

DemocracyOS Developed by the non-profit organization Democracy Earth Foundation, its domain Democracy.earth is a blockchain-based, open-source “liquid-democracy” voting and governance platform. Through the implementation of Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs) and Quadratic Voting102, consensus of human participants is build within decentralized networks, and thereby lead to stable and “incorruptible” decisions within institutions big (world) and small (two people).103 Through DAOs, governance is transferred from the hands of the traditionally elite “experts” to the people, while retaining consultation of experts and utilization of the knowledge of participants. It seeks to reduce the erratic nature of liquid democracy in a stable way.104 Fig. 46 Democracy Earth voting user interface Logo: Democracy Earth

Bottom Image: Screenshot from token.democracy.earth

L ESSO NS FRO M CYBERSPACE

DECODE, European Union (EU) The Decentralized Citizen Owned Data Ecosystem (DECODE) project, funded by the European Union (EU), aims to reinstate the rights and privacy of citizens, through the provision of free, open-source and decentralized tools that allow them to control the data they generate and gather. Furthermore, citizens have the authority to choose with whom these data is shared with. For example, some may choose to do so with public organizations for ‘broader communal use’ and the public good.105 The broader community, such as local communities, businesses and NGOs may choose to utilize these data within the services they provide. Through these initiatives, citizens would be engaged in an open democracy, allowing them to participate in various democratic processes such as policy-formation and decision making. DECODE was piloted in Amsterdam and Barcelona between 2017 and 2019, and presents a model of citizen engagement through the process of giving data sovereignty back to the people. Logo: DECODE Bottom Image: decodeproject.eu/what-decode In Cyberspace | 49

Studies on the Smart City

In this section, we look into the emergence of what has become the smart cities of today. New, ground-up greenfield smart cities, as well as retrofitted brownfield cities will be studied. This would be done through a study of their emergence and subsequent definition, the entrenchment of the current model of smart cities, as well as weighing their performance (or lack of) across recent decades. Through a collection of trends, benefits and criticism, lessons from the smart cities of today could give us a hint of a truly ideal city that could be envisioned.

Image: Author

“

Smarter cities make their systems instrumented, interconnected and intelligent... A smarter city is one that uses technology to transform its core systems and optimize the return from largely finite resources ... taking advantage of the potential to digitize systems and, thereby, enable more informed decision making.106

”

IBM, A vision of smarter cities, 2009

“

A Smart City is one that places people at the center of development, incorporates Information and Communication Technologies into urban management, and uses these elements as tools to stimulate the design of an effective government that includes collaborative planning and citizen participation.107

”

Inter-American Development Bank, The Road toward Smart Cities, 2016

“

A smart city is a city that uses data, information and communications technologies strategically to provide more efficient, new or enhanced services; monitor, manage and optimise infrastructure systems; and enable new levels of crosssector and cross-departmental collaboration. Smart technologies enable innovation and overall improvements of city systems.108

”

Siemens, The Business Case for Smart Cities, 2017

“

A smart city is a place where traditional networks and services are made more efficient with the use of digital and telecommunication technologies for the benefit of its inhabitants and business. A smart city goes beyond the use of information and communication technologies (ICT) for better resource use and less emissions. It means smarter urban transport networks, upgraded water supply and waste disposal facilities and more efficient ways to light and heat buildings. It also means a more interactive and responsive city administration, safer public spaces and meeting the needs of an ageing population.109

”

European Commission, What are smart cities?, 2018

52 | Studies on the Smart City

“

A Smart City is a system of city service resources that are used as efficiently as possible to provide maximum convenience for its residents. It requires close connection between smart city projects (street CCTV cameras, public services, smart transport systems and others) in a megalopolis.110

”

Moscow, How Does a Smart City Work?, 2009

“

... the Smart City can be defined as a city which systematically makes use of ICTs to turn its surplus into resources, promote integrated and multi-functional solutions, and improve its level of mobility and connectedness. It does all this through participatory governance based on collaboration and open source knowledge...111

”

Copenhagen, Danish Smart Cities: Sustainable Living in an Urban World

“

A Smart Nation is a Singapore where people will be more empowered to live meaningful and fulfilled lives, enabled seamlessly by technology, offering exciting opportunities for all. It is where businesses can be more productive and seize new opportunities in the digital economy. It is a nation which collaborates with our international partners to deliver digital solutions and benefit people and businesses across boundaries.112

”

Singapore, Smart Nation: The Way Forward, 2018

“

Smart city is a city that uses integrated information and communication technology to support the economic, social, and environmental goals of its community.113

”

Philadelphia, SmartCityPHL Roadmap, 2019

7 DEFINITIONS OF THE “SMART” CITY

Fig. 47 Word cloud from a collection of goals, visions and definitions of more than 100 smart cities around the world.

A quick overview of what the world thinks of as a smart city today can be extracted from a world cloud, formed by the collation of 50 different smart city visions and goals. Though not an entirely accurate representation of the cities we have today, given that not all cities have their vision statements and goals, and not all of them have them in English, it gives a sense of what is significant to the “smart” cities we envision for the future, today. Many of these cities champion technocratic visions (related words are highlighted in purple) of being

digital, efficient, economically attractive, sustainable, data-driven, while seemingly missing out the key piece of the city, the citizens themselves. However, in recent years, it could be observed that cities have gradually been promising a vision of citizen participation, engagement and quality of living, in particular cities within the European Union. However, criticism on how truly egalitarian and democratic these practices will be elaborated in “Chapter 9 Issues on the ‘Smart’ City”.

Studies on the Smart City | 53

2016 | Munich Germany Advance Implementation

1997 | Los Angeles USA Good Implementation

Age (as of 2020) 0

Stage Planning

Advance

Brownfield Smart Cities

Year of Strategy and Implementation Status Advance Good Implementating Planning 1997 2006

2013

Fig. 48 The majority of retrofit ‘smart’ cities begin transformation between 2013 to 2020, with 148 cities accounted for between this period. In comparison, from 1997 to 2013, only 31 cities are recorded in this study. Implementation status takes into account the stage of planning (formation of council, initial research and proposal of goals), the number of implementation cycles (testbed stage/full implemtation) as well as positions on international rankings. The year of strategy takes into account the earliest mention of a ‘smart’ city strategy in journals, publications and relevant websites. Map and Graph Sources: IMD Smart City Index 2019, Individual Cities’ Website and Documents on ‘Smart’ City Implementations, Eden Strategy Institute Smart City Governments 2018/2019 Report, IESE Cities in Motion Index 2019.

54 | Studies on the Smart City

2020

2016 | Tehran Iran Implementing

2018 | Davao Philippines Planning

2014 | Singapore Singapore Advance Implementation

8 SMART CITIES AROUND THE WORLD 8.1 Retrofit Smart Cities The main bulk of “smart” cities that have ever existed are brownfield cities, where ICT networks and the ‘Internet of Things’ are retrofitted into existing infrastructure. State actors have also been heavily involved in the push for the ‘smart’ city agenda. The European Union (EU) holds the most number of oldest “smart” cities, ranging from Tallinn in S2003114, Amsterdam in 2006115 to Lisbon, in 2008116 117. North America, home to many of the major ‘smart’ city industry players today, hosts a wide range of cities at different stages of implementation, including well-established names such as Los Angeles (which started implementing in 1997)118, San Francisco (2006)119, and Chula Vista (2007)120. Recent

developments include Boston121 and Philadelphia122 in 2017, with cities launching its roadmap, aligning strategic goals and appealing for ideas from the public. Cities in developing countries within Asia have also been rapidly deploying ‘smart’ city technology in recent years, precipitating throughout the continent in movements such as the Indian government’s “100 Smart Cities Mission” in 2015, China’s “Made in China 2025” manufacturing push and implementation of the ‘City Brain’123 . Closer to home, a proposed network of ‘smart’ cities in the ASEAN Smart City Network in 2018124 promised to strengthen economic and innovation collaboration within the region.

Studies on the Smart City | 55

2008 - 2018 | PlanIT Valley Portugal 1700 ha

2017 - 2020 | Sidewalk Toronto Canada 4.9 ha

2020 | Innovation Park Nevada,USA 27,500 ha

2003 | Eko Atlantic Nigeria 1000 ha

Years (till 2020) -2

Size (ha) <50 50-10k 10k - 20k

>20k

Failed

Greenfield Smart Cities

Construction Duration and Status

1995

2000

2005

Map and Graph Sources: IMD Smart City Index 2019, Individual Cities’ Website and Documents on ‘Smart’ City Implementations, Eden Strategy Institute Smart City Governments 2018/2019 Report, IESE Cities in Motion Index 2019.

56 | Studies on the Smart City

2010

2015

2020

2025+

2005 | Kangbashi China 23,300 ha

2017 | NEOM Saudi Arabia 2,650,000 ha 2023 | Jurong Innovation District Singapore 600 ha

2019 | Lanseria Airport City South Africa 500 ha

8.2 “Smart-at-Birth” Cities We also see an accelerating number of new greenfield smart cities in recent decades. Plans such as PlanIT Valley in Portugal and Sidewalk Toronto have failed to reach realization, while others such as Thu Thiem New Urban Area in Vietnam remain in jeopardy, under construction far pass original deadlines. On the other hand, ‘completed’ cities such as Kangbashi in China, and Masdar City in UAE fail to attract a significant population of permanent residents within its borders, representing a crop of built, yet unoccupied ghost cities.

Yet, we continue to see new plans for ground-up ‘smart’ cities emerging around the world. In Nevada, a blockchain company promises a futuristic ‘Innovation Park’ in the middle of the desert, a ‘smart’ city that would function as a test-bed for blockchain-based smart city technology125. In the Middle East, NEOM represents the largest ‘smart’ city undertaking in the world, covering a site of 2.6 million hectares in Saudi Arabia, aiming for a first sector completion in 2025. With many ‘smart-at-birth’ cities failing to achieve desired outcomes, one has to question the viability and methodology of inorganic city-making, whether building a city from scratch is truly the way forward.

Studies on the Smart City | 57

8.3 Case Studies Why do ‘smart’ cities fail? What are the common criticisms levelled against the desire to achieve technoutopianism? In order to better understand the spectrum of challenges cities, smartat-birth or not, face, a selection of cities were chosen for this detailed study. They range from greenfield to retrofitted cities, conceptual plans to built realisations, government-led to corporate-driven undertakings.

Masdar City UAE

An analysis as well as the most controversial aspect of each project is presented, injecting into the wider evaluation of the “smartness” of our visions for cities today.

Built Greenfield Empty Enclave Political Statement

PlanIT Valley Portugal

Concept Greenfield Experimentation Replicable Software

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Waterfront Toronto Canada

Barcelona Spain

Concept Greenfield

Implemented Retrofit

Business test-bed

Evolution from a Technocratic exercise

Surveillance tool

to Digital sovereignty

Songdo South Korea

Singapore

Built Greenfield

Implemented Retrofit

Empty enclave

Technocratic exercise

Speculative capital

spearheaded by public office

Studies on the Smart City | 59

Built Greenfield Complete

Case Study

Year: Initiated 2006, Completed 2009 Population Expected: 50,000 residence, 40,000 commuters Main Stakeholders: Masdar, Government of Abu Dhabi Concept: Ecotopia

Location:

Abu Dhabi

Masdar City | Masdar, Foster + Partners Masdar City was envisioned to be an “ecotopia”, a walkable, compact, low-rise complex which promises to be environmentally sustainable, touting carbon-neutral and zero-waste credentials while located in the middle of the desert.126 It strived to be a clean-tech business hub, promising an energyefficient urban development. This was to be done through the array of renewable energy collection methods, together with a car-free commitment, with autonomous pod cars for Personal Rapid Transport (PRT) in place of personal vehicles. It is noteworthy that Masdar City took cues from vernacular architecture in the region in a bid to further reduce its carbon footprint due to cooling. Foster and Partner investigated the livability of traditional houses in the desert climate, and incorporated these strategies in the form of concrete latticework facade as well as wind towers that channel and enhance natural air conditioning. Masdar City was meant to put cities at the “heart of the environmental debate”, and should be replicable anywhere with a few modifications.127 It was to be a symbolic statement to the world from the oil-engorged, skyscrapper-bonanza UAE on its environmental commitments, and advancement in “green technology”. Yet, the city has transformed into the “world’s first green ghost town”128. Devoid of the expected 50,000 residents, only 2,000 people work and commute there, and 300 permanent residents live in, consisting of mostly students with free accommodation. Abandoned is the initial goal of a netzero future. The PRT never reached its full deployment, as the unexpected availability of electric (zero-emission) cars proved the expensive, custombuilt pod cars to be infeasible.

Fig. 49 A wind tower in a courtyard space, inspired by traditional architecture. These modernised wind towers channel wind to cool spaces on teh ground floor.

Top Image: Masdr City project featuring renewable energy technologies in Abu Dhabi. Photograph. Britannica ImageQuest, Encyclopædia Britannica, 25 May 2016. quest.eb.com/ search/174_498326/1/174_498326/cite. Accessed 4 Aug 2020.

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Relation to Thesis Masdar City performs not only the limited practical role a demonstrator of technology, but in the larger scheme of things, is a symbolic showof-force rebranding of Abu Dhabi, through its willingness to splurge in the latest and greatest in technology. Critics have pointed out the hypocritical nature of such an investment, when the country boasts the largest per capita carbon footprint in the world.129 The city has become a marketing campaign, every extravagant action in the intention of attracting its main audience of investors and the world at large.

Fig. 50 The city located in the middle of the desert.

Yet, even in its core technology-reliant strategy, we see glaring errors. Rapid change and renewal in technology leads to obsolescence, especially when dealing with novel, innovative technology. It’s PRT system serves as a reminder of the fluid and constantly evolving state of technology. On the other hand, even if Masdar City was to be successful in attracting its population of 90,000 workers, it represents a growing trend amongst countries around the world, in which the definition of exclusive enclaves has been extended to the city scale. Only the relevant educated middleclass and business leaders are welcomed into the city, an invisible social barrier surrounding its high-technology buildings. It is to note that the decision on who gets to reside within Masdar is ultimately outside the control of the architect (and in the decision of the government or landlord). It is a glimpse of an exclusionary smart city, where architecture has

no say in its occupants, and is relegated to the role of a technology demonstrator.

Fig. 51 The envisioned underground PRT, in the effort for a car-less society.

“

What Masdar really represents, in fact, is the crystallization of another global phenomenon: the growing division of the world into refined, high-end enclaves and vast formless ghettos where issues like sustainability have little immediate relevance.130

”

Nicolai Ouroussoff, 2010

Top Image: Masdar City, Masdar City, United Arab Emirates. Architect: various, 2014.. Photograph. Britannica ImageQuest, Encyclopædia Britannica, 26 Mar 2018. quest.eb.com/search/104_2560139/1/104_2560139/cite. Accessed 4 Aug 2020. Middle Image: Foster. Masdar City | Foster + Partners. Fosterandpartners.com. https:// www.fosterandpartners.com/projects/masdar-city/#gallery. Published 2019. Accessed August 3, 2020. Bottom Image; Image by Jan Seifert - https://www.flickr.com/photos/58978138@ N00/6770579011/

Fig. 52 The underutilized, limited access PRT. Studies on the Smart City | 61

Concept Greenfield Unbuilt

Case Study

Year: 2008 - 2017 Population Expected: 225,000 Main Stakeholders: Living PlanIT, City Council of Paredes Concept: City as software Location: Paredes, Portugal

PlanIT Valley | Steve Lewis & Living PlanIT Living PlanIT had an ambitious goal from the very start: to modernise the architecture industry and improve efficiencies, by applying methods and techniques successfully seen in other industries. This includes: (1) ‘systems thinking’ - to have integrated city elements for interoperability and collaboration, (2) ‘optimizing product life-cycle design and management’ through simulations and modelling, and (3) riding the trend of ubiquitous computing and intelligence to ‘connect, interrogate, analyse and control’ the city, by deploying an array of sensors to harvest and produce intelligence.131 Living PlanIT was at its core, a planning company developing a software. It marketed its Urban Operating System (UOS) as the brain behind the sensors and buildings, gathering and coordinating sensors and systems at different scales embedded throughout the city. The company itself would not be involved in the building any hardware, which will be built by other companies. Buildings would be pre-fabricated and standardized within hexagonal plots of land ( Fig. 54), allowing plug-and-play characteristics and optimising the use of space.132 The city would be strictly divided into different zones, for retail, residential, research and entertainment quarters, with an underground railway running through it. The city was envisioned to be a prototype city, allowing developers to testbed technologies and ultimately market it as “instant cities” for emerging economies. The project ultimately failed in 2018 as interest in the project wane after multiple delays in planning and funding, exacerbated by the failure to form a unified team.133

Fig. 53 Artist impression of PlanIT Valley.

Top Image: Balonas Manano & Lviing PlanIT SA, 2010 Right Image: Smart City Hub. PlanIT Valley: The smartest city never been built - Smart City Hub. Smart City Hub. https://smartcityhub. com/governance-economy/planit-valley-the-smartest-city-neverbeen-built/. Published January 10, 2018. Accessed August 3, 2020.

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Relation to Thesis PlanIT Valley was an entirely commercial endeavour, where a private company creates a platform that licenses the

development of and access to elements within the city.134 Through the thinking of cities in digital software terms, it was envisioned to unlock efficiencies and conveniences. This includes the granting of permits to build and upgrade city infrastructure, or in terms of software business models and a digital product, granting licensing agreements and packages. On the other hand, such an approach appears to place cities into the hands of a single developer, with traditional stakeholders of the city (governments, citizens, architects) to be experimented, relegated and placed in vulnerable positions. Should cities be viewed as software? It brings into question the position into which people and their voices are placed, and the channels and to whom to raise their concerns to. Furthermore, PlanIT Valley advocates strict zoning within cities, segregating the different functions into “singlepurpose” districts, compartmentalising and modularizing the city in a bid to ease its replication elsewhere. We see the influence of the planner and architect as again, the person with a “God’s eye view”, determining what is best for the city and its inhabitants. Such a heavy-handed approach harkens back to the high-modernist ideals of the city, in which logic, order and standardization are the central themes in projects such as Le Corbusier’s Plan Voisin and Niemeyer’s Plan of Brasilia.135

“

We must dematerialize the city, translate it to code, make perfect copies, and then scale it to whatever size we need.136

”

Steve Lewis, 2010 Chief Executive Living PlanIT

How and who will concerns be raised to? To the developer, the municipal council, to the AI?

To put into a different perspective, smart cities are in concept, an prodigious child of the modernist methodology, whereby logic and standardization reign supreme in the organization of the city.

Fig. 54 Hexagonal plots divide the master plan into different functioal zones.

Studies on the Smart City | 63

Concept Greenfield Unbuilt

Case Study

Year: 2017 - 2020 Population Expected: 500-800 housing units Main Stakeholders: Waterfront Toronto, Sidewalk Labs Concept: City as a business Location: Toronto

Sidewalk Toronto | Sidewalk Labs

Sidewalk Labs, a subsidiary of Alphabet Inc., was chosen, under contract with Waterfront Toronto, to develop Quayside into a community-centred, innovative and sustainable mixed-use district, with an emphasis on a digital and information layer that will overlay the physical, monitoring and enhancing processes. However, the project was marred with controversies from its beginnings. Concerns such as privacy and data control, ownership and governance

were brought up in the face of the company’s proposed streamlined collection of data. Criticism was levelled onto whether a private corporation with vested interests would be suitable in a position of policy and planning, especially when social objects do not align to their interests.137 Conflict of interests also arises from the fact that companies such as Google (the sister company) generate businesses by “learning as much as it can about the lives and buying habits of those who use it”. As such, Quayside became a ‘laboratory for technocracy’, a test-bed for unleashing, ‘debugging’ and streamlining Google’s new technology and services.138 Failure to justify the need for intense surveillance and high technology in place of proven, traditional options, as well as a sense of distrust in the community, contributed to the plans ultimate demise.

Fig. 55 Artistic impression: mass-timber structures on Quayside

Top Image: Home - Sidewalk Toronto. Sidewalk Toronto. https:// www.sidewalktoronto.ca/. Published June 10, 2020. Accessed August 8, 2020. Right Image: Sidewalk Labs vows its 190-acre waterfront plan will be ‘economic windfall’ for Toronto. thestar.com. https:// www.thestar.com/news/gta/2019/06/21/google-sister-companypitches-190-acre-toronto-plan-vows-quayside-will-be-economicwindfall-for-city.html. Published June 24, 2019. Accessed August 8, 2020.

64 | Studies on the Smart City

Fig. 56 The existing site

Relation to Thesis Sidewalk Toronto and the criticism brought up against it presents society’s expression of concern in this new breed of ‘smart’ cities, and society’s relation with technology. Cities seek business opportunities and technological advantages in a bid to gain an edge in a highly competitive global market. In return, it is important to look at the cost of being used as a tool and test-bed for private enterprises. As can be seen from Sidewalk Toronto, the desire to install the latest and best technology may eclipse the consideration of the actual needs of those who would be at the receiving end, the citizens. As such, by appealing only to the governmental leaders and investors without garnering the support and approval of the people, distrust and ultimately resistance to the adoption of these technologies may not only stagnate, but lead to a push back in the transformation of cities into ‘smart’ cities. As such, in the implementation of ‘smart’ cities, one has to question whether the sacrifice of individual autonomy, privacy, control and democracy truly worth the trade for a bureaucratic-administration fantasy, and justify the need for it in relation to the people most crucial in the city’s development, the citizens.

Studies on the Smart City | 65

Implemented Retrofit Success

Case Study

Year: 2011 - 2020 Population: 5.575 million (2019) Main Stakeholders: City Council, citizens Concept: Involvement of citizens Location: Spain

Barcelona | Barcelona City Council

Barcelona was one of the first cities under the European Comission to implement smart city initiatives in 2011. Driven by the City Council under its Chief Technology Officer (CTO) Francesca Bria139, its latest strategy, ‘Smart City 3.0’ involves three main axes, ‘Digital Transformation’, ‘Digital Innovation’ and ‘Digital Empowerment’. ‘Digital Transformation’ involves the utilization of technology to better serve citizens through ‘e-governance’ proposals, which involves increasing the efficiency and transparency of the government through innovating processes and open data, as well as injection of ‘smart’ technology into physical infrastructures for administration purposes. An example of such an implementation is the opening of data to public and private uses, attempting to ‘break organizational silos’ through the Sentilo platform.140 ‘Digital Innovation’ involves the use of technology to promote entrepreneurship, experimentation and attractiveness of the city to investments. ‘Digital Empowerment’ involves the education and training of people to improve awareness, skills and inclusiveness of the city, as well as affirming and supporting the rights of citizens, allowing them to exercise ‘digital sovereignty’.141 Its successful implementation of these projects centre around a model of development that actively involves citizens in its policy decisions, and ensuring that policies ultimately benefit them, within a system of participatory democracy. As a recognized smart city, it consistently ranks amongst the top ten smartest cities in the world. (9th in 2018/2019 ranking done by Eden Strategy Institute and ONG&ONG142).

Fig. 57 Urban mobility initiatives through improvement in cycling infrastructure, such as ‘Bicing’, a bike sharing system.

Top Image: Barcelona Digital City ajuntament.barcelona.cat/ Right Image: Toronto has flirted with giving residents a say in city policy. In Barcelona, they’ve gone all-in. thestar.com. https://www. thestar.com/news/gta/2019/07/22/toronto-has-flirted-with-givingresidents-a-say-in-city-policy-in-barcelona-theyve-gone-all-in.html. Published July 22, 2019. Accessed August 8, 2020. ‌

66 | Studies on the Smart City

Relation to Thesis The smart city progress that Barcelona has achieved today is a progressive implementation and constant revision of its policies. Before its current ‘Smart City 3.0’ mission, in its initial stages of implementation in 2011, its strategies did not involve citizens in the process. Instead, it consulted other actors, such as businesses, universities and research centres. The City Council treated the public solely as ‘recipients in its interventions’, leaving them without a say in the imposition (in contrast to implementation) of technology. In 2013, after two years of investments and partially interrupted by changes of officeholders, initiatives remained at reporting objective output, rather than outcomes. The recruitment and subsequent leadership of CTO Bria reframed the agenda of the smart city policies, and advocated for citizen inclusion in the development of strategies. According to Gasco-Hernandez (2018), the evolution of Barcelona’s smart city strategy therefore proves the need for bureaucratic continuity and, more importantly, citizen engagement, partnership and co-implementation of ‘smart’ city developments.143 Barcelona forms a positive case study in stark contrast to Waterfront Toronto, with its peoplecentric implementation of smart city solutions. Fig. 58 Creation of Superblocks that would promote car-lite environments, combine with investments in smart infrastructure, as an approach to improve ‘livability’

“

... to rethink the smart city from the ground up, focusing on what it can do to serve the people, instead of a technology push agenda.144

”

Francesca Bria, Chief Technology and Digital Innovation Officer, Barcelona

Studies on the Smart City | 67

Built Greenfield Complete

Case Study

Year: 2015 (expected completion) Population: 300,000 (expected) | 50,000 (2018) Main Stakeholders: Gale International, Posco et al. Concept: Private, business-centric development Location: Korea

Songdo International Business District | Private Corporations

Built on 600 hectares of reclaimed land from the Yellow Sea with record-breaking $20-40 billion worth of investments, Songdo represents the epitome of a private ‘smart’ city built entirely from scratch. Conceived in 2001 and envisioned to complete in 2015, Songdo was envisioned as a gateway to Northeast Asia, and promised to ‘ do nothing less than banish the problems created by modern urban life’.145 It has been billed as “Korea’s High-Tech Utopia” in the New York Times146, ‘Ubiquitous City’147 148 149 as well as ‘eco-city’.150 Its major investors are private corporations such as Gale International and Posco, attracting $9bn in foreign investments, seeking to turn over a profit within this promising future business development. Technology imbues every aspect of the city, from environment control, communication and interaction of people such as through teleconferences, to traffic management and living conveniences. Its residents enjoy ‘smart’ living systems, such as automated waste collection management, water recycling facilities and the promise of a car-lite future. Boasting 106 LEED certified buildings151, it is labelled as an environmental sustainable city, home to the United Nations Green Climate Fund (GCF),152 where the air is clean and environment filled with lush greenery. These systems are enabled by the ‘algorithmic management’ of the city, supported by vast numbers of embedded sensors and cameras153 provided by major technology vendors such as IBM, Cisco Systems and Siemens AG. They interconnect and monitor every metric of the city, automating inconveniences in daily life and business, while serving as marketing material to attract ever more investment and tenants. Fig. 59 Songdo Masterplan by KPF

Top Image: KPF, New Songdo City www.kpf.com/projects/new-songdo-city

68 | Studies on the Smart City

Relation to Thesis Proclaimed to have ‘everything one could possibly want, need and dream of in a world-class city’154 through technology, Songdo has been praised to be a shining beacon for the future in its initial conception. It is a unique, and for once, an almost complete specimen of a ‘smart-from-birth’ city, boasting the latest in digital standards and Internet of Things technology. Yet, beyond the marketing hubris, accolades and rankings, the reality on the ground falls short. Its wide roads are void dividing residential districts and parks with inhabitants nowhere to be seen. Community activities appear to be sparse and rare within the city, with a resident lamenting that its ‘high-tech amenities, however, haven’t helped her connect with other people’.155 This sentiment is lamented by Adam Greenfield and Yigitcanlara, attributing these phenomena to the lack of investment in and engagement with local communities, neglecting and excluding them in the bid to cater for and attract businesses.156

Moreover, the city as an International Business District seeks to attract a certain type of individuals, the mobile, transient workers constantly seeking better opportunities. Songdo serves those who can afford and are affluent enough to invest in its apartments many out of range to ordinary Koreans157. Knowledge workers form its key demographics, creating an enclave at the city scale.158 Moreover, unoccupied apartments, many not necessarily without an owner, dot the city’s apartment, serving as speculative assets rather than actual inhabited spaces. Criticisms have therefore emerged on the sustainability of the urban model that Songdo functions on, given its focus on a specific type of population and profit-driven motivations. However, as the government and private corporations have already invested billions into the project, the have fallen into the trap of sunk costs. Given the only way forward is to continue developing, one has to question if the current model is the future ‘smart’ city we desire.

Fig. 60 Posco Tower within the International Business District, fronted by wide swathes of empty parks and roads. Right Image: Author

Studies on the Smart City | 69

Implemented Retrofit Success

Case Study

Year: 2014 - 2020 Population: 5.639 million (2018) Main Stakeholders: Smart Nation Office Concept: Technocratic, government driven Location: Singapore

Singapore | Smart Nation and Digital Government Office

Singapore begins its first hint of technological development under the National Computerisation Programme in the 1980s with the national IT master plan, aimed to equip governmental agencies, and subsequently private sectors with computers.159 In 2014, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong announced the Smart Nation initiative, and outlined the principles of a citizen-centric, livability and economic approach in his speech, stating that “Therefore our vision is for Singapore to be a Smart Nation – a nation where people live meaningful and fulfilled lives, enabled seamlessly by technology, offering exciting opportunities for all.”160 Initiatives then included the launch of two open data portals, installation of free public Wifi network ‘Wireless@SG’, and a digital health portal for citizens. In 2016, two additional agencies, Government Technology Agency of Singapore (GovTech) and the Info-communications Media Development Authority (IMDA) were launched to support and accelerate its ambitions, and did so on three fronts, Digital Government, Digital Economy and Digital Society. Initiatives since then included the promotion of the use of open data platforms, encouragement of innovation and entrepreneurship through provision of laboratories and ecosystems, re-skilling and education for individuals and businesses as well as the formation of international collaboration within ASEAN. Through projects such as the National Artificial Intelligence Strategy and the Smart Nation Sensor Platform, citizens and businesses would be better served through an ‘anticipatory’ government with the utilization of data and information.161 Consistently ranked amongst the top cities in smart cities in recent surveys (2nd in in 2018/2019 ranking done by Eden Strategy Institute and ONG&ONG162, 1st in IMD Smart City Index 2019163). Fig. 61 Punggol Digital District, an upcoming business and academic zone under JTC.

Top Image: JTC, via TODAYonline www.todayonline.com/ singapore/new-punggol-digital-district-create-28000-jobsopen-gradually-2023 Right Top Image: Visuals - Jurong Lake District - Projects KCAP. Kcap.eu. https://www.kcap.eu/en/projects/v/jurong_ lake_district/. Published 2016. Accessed August 8, 2020. Right Image: CRC. Dr Janil Puthucheary explains why PM Lee spoke about Smart Nation at NDR. Unscrambled.sg. https://www.unscrambled.sg/2017/09/04/dr-janil-puthuchearyexplains-why-pm-lee-spoke-about-smart-nation-at-ndr/. Published September 4, 2017. Accessed August 8, 2020.

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Relation to Thesis Unlike in the case of Barcelona, where the strategy for inclusiveness involved the promotion of digital sovereignty and the right to decide data handling, Singapore’s strategy to reduce marginalization of groups such as the elderly and lower-income population segment is to educate and improve ease of access to the Internet. This involves ‘four basic digital enablers’ (namely ‘a mobile device with network connection’, ‘Internet access’, ‘a bank account with card facility’ and ‘a national digital identity’), digital skills training and outreach.164 Moreover, in contrast with smart city developments in European cities where the private sector has a heavy hand in smart city discussions, initiatives here are spearheaded by the government and its multiple abbreviated agencies under the Smart Nation and Digital Government Group (SNDGG).165 Though acknowledged to produce a favourable condition in the alignment of visions and stability of implementation, a government-driven technocratic approach to smart cities presents a different view of a smart city, one that might be at the expense of civic freedoms. Furthermore, though often hailed as a success story under efficient governance, implementation of Smart Nation initiatives were not without hiccups. For example, in the fear of surveillance and resistance to technology, ‘the elderly placed towels over sensors meant to monitor their safety at home.’ The struggle to replace the incumbent SingPass ID system with a universal Digital Identity has also been delayed.166 Singapore’s flavour of a ‘smart’ city seem to involve citizens as superficial recipients to technological implementations, its strategies as technological ‘solutionism’ lightly veiled by ‘citizen-centric’ intentions. Yet, this model of a ‘smart’ city is acknowledged by various international rankings as being successful and advanced, surpassing many EU smart cities that placed more emphasis on data rights. While such a proving successful in the short term, whether such a strategy of paternalistic (or insidiously framed, technocratic) governance be sustainable the long run remains to be seen. Fig. 62 Jurong Lake District, coined as Singapore’s second Central Business District, will host highdensity mixed-use building, and serve as ‘a new gateway for Singapore’ to the region.168

“

This Blueprint signifies the commitment of the Singapore Government and our partners in the private and people sectors to ensure that people are at the centre of Singapore’s Smart Nation efforts, and that everyone can experience the benefits of technology.167

”

Dr Janil Puthucheary, Chairperson, Digital Readiness Workgroup Digital Readiness Blueprint Studies on the Smart City | 71

8.4 Lessons from the ‘Smart’ City The Case for ‘Smart’ Cities The case studies presented in the earlier section provides a broad overview of the multifaceted challenge that the ideology of the ‘smart’ city entails, from business propositions to empowerment of citizens, to mobility and the environment. To better understand this multidisciplinary challenge that cities face and choose to tackle in different ways, there is a need to delve into and pick apart the concepts of what it means by being ‘smart’. Despite the lack of a common and clear definition of ‘smart’ cities, it is generally agreed upon that initiatives within the drive for a ‘smart’ city may be broadly divided into 6 different dimensions ( Fig. 63).169 170 171 1. Smart Economy - Refers to the productivity of the economy, the production and utilisation of knowledge through innovation.

Smart Economy

Smart People

Smart City

Smart Environment

2. Smart Mobility - Refers to advance connectivity between physical nodes, linking together people and resources using advance transportation and communication systems. 3. Smart Environment - Efficiency and optimisation of energy production and consumption, coupled with resource management and improvement of public awareness on issues, thereby leading to environmental sustainability. 4. Smart People - An environment of learning and education, together with technical support programs to improve the adoption of technology, and consequently digital equality. 5. Smart Living - Availability and accessibility to ‘public services, technical and social infrastructure’, entertainment and improvement of ‘livability’ in a healthy environment. 6. Smart Governance - An engaged government, in tune with stakeholders at different levels, together with the adoption of new technologies for the administration for the city. A broad overview of these categories (and goals) yields an image of a city designed for the citizen, satisfying needs, providing conveniences and improving the condition of inhabitants within the city’s borders.

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Smart Living

Smart Mobility Smart Governance

Fig. 63 Facets of a ‘smart’ city program

The Case against ‘Smart’ Cities Though initiatives under the banner of the ‘smart’ city might be loosely marketed as being ‘for the benefit of the people’, many of these proposals place citizens as mute recipients of government and corporate ‘benevolence’. The notion of the “Smart City” today is inherently tangled with the state and private corporations; it is a political, as well as a capitalist process. The growth of a smart city today cannot escape discussions on economic viability through private and public investments. This is evident the numerous marketing campaigns of cities today as investment opportunities and the next exploding billion-dollar industry, such as NEOM, UAE. Furthermore, increased criticisms levelled upon business-oriented cities such as Songdo IBD and Masdar City brings into stark contrast a corporate-led and driven endeavour with one led by a people-centric government. The motivation in the seeding of a smart city is in the capital it attracts, and has been further removed than ever from a city by the people, for people. Besides masquerading as a profit-generating apparatus, the smart cities of today serve as statement pieces of both developed and undeveloped nations. Countries do not even need to have an actual, functioning smart city, just the promise of one elevates its status as a developing nation, promoting its status as open for trade and propagating its growth. (Kigali, Rwanda as an example, though heavy with historical baggage, pushes its capital city as a growing node in the African continent.172) It is a political soft-power tool to improve a country’s standing on the international stage.

Studies on the Smart City | 73

Framing the Argument

This section evaluates the lessons that could be extracted from the previous observations and analysis of the smart city. This would be done through the categorization of the issues that are brought about from the emergence of the smart city trend, and in doing so, reveal the implications and power dynamics that lie within grand visions, strategies and projections. Ultimately, it debates the entrenched model of the smart city we have today, in hopes of sparking a discourse on the current state of the â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;smartâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; city and the road ahead.

Fig. 64 The wide yet empty streets of Songdo International Business District. Image: Author

9 ISSUES ON THE ‘SMART’ CITY

9.1 Framing the Stakeholders The three primary stakeholders of the city would be addressed here: the people, the government and the corporate entities. In Fig. 65, they are framed in relation to one another within a cybernetic feedback loop, together with the international community, consisting of regional and global markets, networks. The power dynamics and relationships of the three tightly interwoven parties would be explored against the backdrop of a rapidly advancing, yet alienating and polarizing technological city. Prevalent issues are discussed in this chapter, in hopes for a thorough discourse on the current model of ‘smart’ cities and a radical rethink of the incumbent vision of the future.

Infrastructure Connections Outsourcing Capital

International Community

Concerns Standards Justice Resources Cooperation

Tax Revenue Investments Development Businesses

State

Advertisements Services Products Employment

Market Investments Policy

Votes Interests Concerns

People Information Demand Labour

Governance Policy Rights

Fig. 65 The Feedback Loop of a City

Fragmenting global economies

State

Who has control and power?

Data for profit, and the increase in value of data

Stakeholders People

Businesses

Increasingly powerful corporations

Inherent topdown approach

Where are the people? Access Control and Denial

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9.2 Issue 1: Of Control and Power 9.1.1. Fragmentation of global economies Increased connectivity amongst individual economies hasgiven rise to a slew of protectionism measures, brought about by intense competition and the desire to gain competitive advantage while reducing that of competitors. This is evident in the increasingly nationalistic undertone taken by major economic powerhouses and regions such as the USA, China and UK (think Brexit), exacerbated by Covid-19 pandemic. As the prime minister of Singapore Lee Hsien Loong (2020) puts it, countries seek to reduce reliance on foreign sources, diversifying supply chains and investments, and developing in parallel similar technologies domestically.173 Termed “devolution” by Parag Khana, the universality of connectivity has allowed a more equal access to information across various hierarchies of the traditional state, with a downwards transference of power to from the state to the city, from regions to sub-regions. Simultaneously, sub-regions and cities have become more prominent players in the global stage, able to compete as an investment destination almost independent of a central government. Cities and regions have reduced their reliance on federal intervention in securing deals and constructing policies, giving rise to movements of self-rule. They are able to do so as a result of the increase in connectivity and accessibility to the global market. Cyberspace has therefore effectively fused cities into “massive urban archipelagos”, allowing them to become prominent economical nodes of the world in place of countries. 174

Framing the Argument | 77

9.1.2. Corporations as your next government Cities compete to gain investments and become autonomous players in the supply chain world, posturing themselves as the next most desirable investment location with next-generation infrastructure and promises to ease business development and market access. For the “entrepreneur” city, development and the implementation of “smart” city techniques is lead, first and foremost, by the creation of an environment deemed attractive to businesses, in order to justify the marketing hubris of being a “smart” city.175 “Smart” cities have become vessels of capital accumulation, whereby property-led developments are designed to attract investment capital, anchor tenants, and global workers, with a side benefit of creating a potential exportable model of ‘smart’ development. This is evident in the built examples of Song Do, South Korea and Masdar, UAE as shown previously, where ‘smart’ cities emerge from greenfields, aiming to be the ‘next Silicon Valley’. At the same time, corporations seek trans-national engagement to diversify, reducing reliance on a single market, setting up global partnerships of locally joint ventures. There is a reversal of powers and roles: countries, and by extension cities, have been reduced from ‘sovereign masters’ to ‘jurisdiction to be obeyed’.176 In his book ‘Against the Smart City’, Greenfield points out the goal of private corporations in pushing the agenda of the “smart” city.177

“

From their perspective, the goal is clearly to find new markets for their existing products and services, or minor variations thereupon.

78 | Framing the Argument

”

Adam Greenfield, Author of ‘Against the Smart City’.

One can easily look towards Waterfront Toronto as well as PlanIT Valley, as mentioned previously, as cities where corporations with vested interest have taken over traditional governance and planning, turning cities into “sales destination” and test-beds for prototyping their next business endeavour. In other words, the “smart” city has become amarketing ploy, championed by corporations through techno-topic visions that present problems that could be solved with the injection of technology, lubricating the economic engine, optimizing economic flows and ensuring efficiency in the face of limited resources. Such solutionism reduces the position of cities into “money-making machines”, where being globally competitive by adopting the latest in technology would solve problems and “auto-magically” improve the liveability of cities.178

9.1.3. Data driven As nations push the agenda of “smart” cities, the common solution is to deploy and embed large arrays of sensors throughout the city. The boundaries between cyberspace and real space, two fundamentally different domains, continue to be erased, as computing and sensors pervade our physical environment. Cyberspace is a domain whereby data individual activities (such as clicks and sites visited) are by default, recorded and accessible. It is a space whereby individuals are denied the “right-to-be-forgotten”179. Yet, these properties of cyberspace have in recent years been translated into the physical, an environment in which previously, data collection required an exponential effort and investment. The deployment of automatic sensors, digital services and ubiquitous computing consequentially, enables recording, aggregation and searchability of physical real-world spaces. There are several implications to such a change in space. Privacy concerns are the first and most obvious consequence of a highly digitized world. Through the aggregation and analysis of large amounts of data, trends and valuable insights provide both states and corporations with the ability to evaluate and subsequently benefit their strategies. By introducing these collectors of data into built space, we have essentially transformed the very space we live in into instruments for constant surveillance. Societies under such circumstances are the ‘Societies of Control’ that Deleuze had predicted, where individuals become “dividuals” within a network, where the modular forms of control penetrate every aspect of society (as have been discussed in “Chapter 4 The Individual, the Society and the Machine”)180. Persons are encoded into data subjects, where the individual becomes a source of data extraction and a puppet for manipulation. Control is “enacted vertically” through state hierarchy, and is reproduced within the “daily operations of economic and labour relations”181 , enforced in the pervasive requirement of digital services and technology that are essential for an individual to maintain economic functions and societal relations. The ownership of the collectors of data, and by extension data itself, therefore represents the instrument of control. In the current situation, data appears to be in the hands of a limited number of organizations, specifically companies who own the technology and information and actively seek avenues in which to profit from it. It is therefore unsurprising that the one of the major controversial aspects of Waterfront Toronto, is in the ownership of data collected by sensors deployed by Sidewalk Labs. The conflict of interest between a private corporation that has its entire business model built around the collection of data, building an environment for a society of ‘free’ individuals to live, work and play in was one of the aspects that lead to its ultimate downfall.

Framing the Argument | 79

9.1.4. Conclusion to Issue 1 The above analysis brings about an implication that access to data, data and subsequently its analysis to gain knowledge, bestows control and therefore the power to the haves over the have-nots. Increasingly, however, one can observe an awakening and an increase in awareness of this change in power dynamics that the “smart” city and all it entails represent. Calls to action to protect the individual’s ride to the information he produces have sprung out. In response, state actors have set up legislation framework to prevent monopolies of data, such as the European Union (EU) with the enactment of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in 2016, while companies such as Google and Apple embed data collection options within their services. Yet, the concept of the “smart” city that is entrenched within the society of today thrives in the unprecedented access of urban data, termed “Big Data”, in order to compute and “solve” large and complex problems. This in itself represents further implications of the “smart” city.

80 | Framing the Argument

9.3 Issue 2: Where are the people? 9.3.1. Inherent top-down approach

The model of the smart city prevalent today is at its core a technocratic top-down imposition of control. A central organization decides what would bring about the most benefits to a city’s inhabitants after analysis of data. A symptom of such a trend comes in the form of urban dashboards, which are interfaces that collates raw statistics on aspects of the city and thereafter displays the information through diagrammatic means that allow for easier digestion and reaction by a governmental body. More importantly, such systems attempt to represent the city through formal and objective metrics. By assessing specific technical parameters, one can gauge the performance of a city, or even judge a city as ‘good’ or ‘bad’. It brings about the question, voiced by Greenfield (2013)182, “do cities need to have goals” and objectives?

in the face of unprecedented changes in the environment. Another example that showcases the need for a groundbased perspective would be the community-based response that preceded any federal aid in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy185. It showcases the importance of the preservation and involvement of ground-up initiatives. These criticisms may seem naïve and precarious186, nevertheless, it serves as a warning to the attempt in the codification of the intangible and its potential to subjugate the people and limit democracy in the streets. It highlights the need for a discourse in the current “smart” city approach, and to allow for a truly smart, resilient and adaptable city. Perhaps, there is a need to reframe the city, or modify the cybernetic approach so prevalent today.

On the other hand, it is convenient to frame such an approach into the system of cybernetics, where the observer (city manager) enacts changes into and reacts upon the output of the observed, the city, of which has its own evaluation and reaction mechanism (second-order cybernetics mentioned in ”Chapter 4 The Individual, the Society and the Machine”). The cybernetic framework reinforces stability and control as its primary objectives through the feedback loop to achieve homeostasis, and advocates for an unplanned approach to city-making. Yet, the fundamental issue with these approaches is the fact that cities are organic and informal beings – to reduce cities into a set of rules and code, meant to be debugged and rectified, is to blatantly discard the complexities and nuances formed between individuals, communities and the society at large. The cybernetic approach attempts to encode social relationships and communication in the form of data to be “quantified, nudged, mined and probed.”183 In contrast, a more simplistic take positions “smart” city tactics as a subversion the democratic nature of cities with all its intricacies and organized complexities and spontaneity championed by Jane Jacobs.184 Cities are the result of a spontaneous groundup order, a product and accumulation from the multiplicities of many infinitesimal acts. Such spontaneity, unplanned and against the cybernetic theory, represents an anomaly in the system that is deemed to be eradicated. This is despite the fact that in certain cases, the people in a horizontal organization have the ability to make better decisions on the ground rather than on the national or federal level. A significant example is the organization of the manufacturing through the 3D printing of face shields by thousands of individual hobbyists during the 2020 pandemic, as a response to the lack of such equipment against the backdrop of a severely disrupted supply chain. Such decentralized yet cooperative efforts by individuals on the ground through cyberspace is in stark contrast to the struggle of the state mechanisms to fulfil the needs of society Framing the Argument | 81

9.3.2. Access control and denial At the same time, the ‘smart” city as a business embraces neoliberalism as a theory, where the well-being of individuals are best achieved by the free market. Criticisms of the ‘Californian Ideology’ as discussed in “Chapter 4 The Individual, the Society and the Machine” could be seen as a prophetic signal to the conditions of smart cities today. In both conditions, the results lead to social inequality and stratification leading to widening inequality and social polarization. A movement spearheaded by technocratic elites and private enterprises, technology implementation within enclaves of ‘business districts’ functionally fragment cities into profitgenerating and non-profitable spaces, into ‘two-speed’ cities.187 Gentrification, or accelerated change, is enforced, consequently favouring those who can adapt while inevitably marginalizing the economically invisible, technologically unconnected from the circuits of power.188 Besides the passive division of society, smart cities actively strive for businessfriendly environments and profiles, which favour the relatively mobile middle to upper class, while at the same time diverting public resources towards investments into maintaining this prestige. Besides using economic mechanisms such as through the pricing out of the ‘undesired’, some smart cities such as Gujarat International Financial Tech-city (GIFT) in India have gone to the extent of surveillance and policing to determine access and removal of ‘non-profitable’ citizens within the district. The smart city movement therefore exacerbates existing social divisions, further ostracising individuals at the peripheries of society.

82 | Framing the Argument

“

When we build these smart cities, we will be faced with a massive surge of people who will desire to enter these cities. We will be forced to keep them out. This is the natural way of things, for if we do not keep them out they will override our ability to maintain such infrastructure. There are only two ways to keep people out of any space – prices and policing.189

”

Chief economist, Indicus Analytics on GIFT Laveesh Bhandari, 2001

9.3.3. Conclusion to Issues: A souless city? Smart cities are not apolitical constructions. They tie closely to the political directions and policy decisions of the city. Their construction and emergence reflect the priorities and beliefs of the elite few, an instrument to attract business investments and desired labour. Yet, the people they seek to attract may not exist at the moment of the ‘smart’ city’s construction, and would only move in when conditions become attractive. The very labour they seek to attract is mobile, and would move on to places which are deemed more favourable when conditions change. As such, there is no guarantee that the investments placed into attracting the geographically fluid will having lasting impact Smart city issues highlighted in this chapter bear resemblance to the issues faced by cyberspace as discussed in previous chapters (“Chapter 6 Properties of Cyberspace”). While envisioned as an egalitarian network in its early days, cyberspace has become increasingly vertical, with a handful of companies controlling the system, not dissimilar to the cities we see today. Citizens in cities and users in cyberspace are increasingly ‘sifted’ based on their profitability, and favoured accordingly.190 The organic and intangible aspects of the city such as social mobility seem to be outweighed by economic viability. Should such a biased and unforgiving city be the basis upon which the future city is built?

Framing the Argument | 83

Speculate

Reframe the relationship between the physical and cyberspace, Redefine cybernetic theory and relationships with respect to cities

As illustrated in the chapters before, the “smart” city could be framed as an emergent property of the gradual confluence between cyberspace and physical real space. The problems faced by the physical city of today could be attributed to the pervasive nature of cyberspace in the physical realm today. Cyberspace and its properties have translated over to the physical space, representing an unprecedented as well as a growing challenge to all levels of society today. Such a trend will only inevitably intensify, as cities today continue to invest in the “latest” and “smartest”. An alternative “smart” city is required. However, this thesis will not attempt to propose a solution (as many of the problems are external to architecture and would require more than just one methodology), but suggest a way forward such that we may begin to do so through the re-imagination of architecture and its role in society and the international stage..

Image: Author

10 THEMES FOR SPECULATION

Domain

Physical Manifestation

City

Relationship

Concept

Thinking

Instrument

Manifestation

Cyberspace Domain

utilization of machines to process instructions, connect humans

Machine active planning through machine thinking passive observations, analysis of the city

10.1 Cyberspace - physical space relationship The above diagram showcases the gradual convergence of the physical domain (of geographical, infrastructural, built form etc.) with the domain of the machines (virtual, systematic, digital, cyberspace). As demonstrated in previous chapters, the cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s relationship with cyberspace did not start only in the age of smart cities. Taking the primitive form of conceptual and systematic thought in cities of the 1950s, machines have provided planners a framework for organizing the complex and organic city, and subsequently

86 | Speculate

crystallized from a concept into the physical environment as superficial tools and instruments. Arguably the state of cities, new and retrofit, in the form of smart cities, exists in the stage of reliance. Today, citymachine interaction has reached the stage of symbiosis. Illustrated through previous analysis of the cyberspace and its properties, one can observe many of the symptoms emerging in the physical city of today as a phenomenon of its close integration with cyberspace, such that there is

“Smart” cities, new and retrofit, today

Reliance

utilisation of machines to produce knowledge, manmachine interaction

Being?

Cyberspace not just as parallel space, but within city borders

infrastructure as hardware, city program as softwares

a cross-over in properties across the two previously unique spaces. Consequently, adopting Castell’s approach to analysing a city, cities face these challenges on three fronts. Firstly, in its function, where a “dynamic opposition” occurs within the global digital space (of macro processes such as economy, media and technology) and local physical space (of daily life, culture and identity). Secondly in its meaning, where there exist increasing tensions in the relationship

between the individual (personal identity) and the commune (shared identities), in other words, society (which is at the interface of the relationship). Thirdly, form of the city has become an emergent property of the “interaction and conflict” between the physical and virtual.191 These challenges will continue to be faced by cities of today, and will be ever-more integral in the discourse of a more integrated cyber-”smart city” of the future.

Speculate | 87

10.2 Infrastructure De-materialization Ironically, though omnipresent in its property, cyberspace has to exist within the physical infrastructure. It is a “spatialized visualization of all information” that has to be anchored within physical “global information processing systems”, encased within earthbound architecture as mentioned in Novak’s definition of cyberspace in “Chapter 5 Definitions of Cyberspace”.192

regimes195, or the emergence of new cultures, satisfying the condition set about by Buchegger. Yet, the workings behind social media platforms remain hidden and away from view, just like the plumbing systems that belie the simplicity of the faucet. These examples illustrate the potential of shifting perspective to treat software and media as national infrastructures.

Yet, just as the properties of cyberspace have translated into society and the city, similarly, cyberspace could transform our conception of architecture and city making. A hybrid reality could exist within cities of the future.

Perhaps, a ‘soft city’, where hard boundaries are broken down and mixed-use, complimentary buildings that “support a multitude of resources and interactions”196 would be the future to behold. Ideas of movement and re-conceptualization of space have already existed in past utopic proposals. As a consequence of limited land and urban chaos, architects sought radical ideas in order to achieve a more efficient organization of increasingly dense and large cities in the 20th century. Proposals include maximizing standardization and prefabricated components gleaned from the manufacturing industry, thereby improving space efficiency and reducing building footprints. Today, this search has shifted from densifying cities, focusing towards increasing communication and information speed and efficiency, as well as adaptation of existing built forms. In Singapore, this may emerge in the form adaptive use and reuse, with schools, old power plants and educational centres being converted or opened-up to functions not initially planned for. Density alone is not enough, what is desired has turned into intensity, of integration and diversity, of convergence of economic demand and social forces. The underlying re-conception and mobility could be taken even further with hybrid reality, allowing the city to become the organism envisioned by the Metabolists.

Perhaps, an alternate ‘mobile’ city could be proposed. Taking a note out of Yona Friedman’s proposal, mobility could be redefined not by the physical movement of structure, but the constant redefinition of the space by the people. This concept is further reinforced with Henri Lefebvre’s definition of space as a social product (Lefebvre, 1991)193, a construction based on values, interactions and the social production of meaning assigned to space. As such, there is an opportunity to remove ourselves from the space of relativity, of Cartesian coordinates and mathematical definition, into an actual social space. Such a space already exists, while not defined, within cyberspace. Hybrid-reality would and already has aided us in our perception of physical space, but how could its potential be unlocked beyond simple modifications and interfaces in our physical environment? At present, we see the gradual presence of cyberspace within soft and hard infrastructures in present ‘smart’ cities. Infrastructure, as reframed by Buchegger (2017), refers to ‘large, forceamplifying systems that connect people and institutions across large scales of space and time’.194 ‘Infra-’ connotes a system that is below, behind the scenes, enabling without attempting to be visible. ‘Smart’ infrastructure would be the next stage in our infrastructure development, existing not as an afterthought of features to an already developed infrastructure, but serving an even more integral role in the development of the city, its form, its conditions and for the public good. Already, precursors exist in the form of social media, acting as informational infrastructures, connecting people in virtual space that in some instances, lead to uprisings in authoritarian

88 | Speculate

Perhaps, architecture could vary through time, kinetic and mobile in concept, with technology allowing the programming of matter, changing its physical properties and characteristics on demand. Constant anticipation and generation of the next adjacent space. Just as in procedurally generated video games of today, where the next room is only rendered once access to adjacent room is granted. Humans would require less space resource, and architecture would morph and reconfigure according to human desires, revisiting ideas of the Fun Palace at the scale of the ‘smart’ city.

10.3 Trans/Post-Nationalism

Cities no longer need their national capitals to filter their relations with the world, every place can compete as an investment destination, and central governments no longer control knowledge of how money is spent.198

Connectography, Parag Khana, 2001

What are cities even? At the national level, cities are the amalgamation of people from different backgrounds, driven by socioeconomic forces resulting in the aggregation of a dense built environment and culture in a favourable geographical location. On the global scale, they function as nodes in a network of trade and commerce-driven by trade routes of the past to modern-day communication channels, as centres for macro processes, media and technology. They function as the interface between these ‘dynamically opposite’ local and global forces, and are challenged to obtain a balance between these demands.197 Yet, as global communication and information infrastructures strengthen connectivity, cities once separated by vast physical distances are gradually transforming into ‘massive urban archipelagos’ (as mentioned in Issue 1), virtually fused together by omnipresent cyberspace and closely intertwined economic processes. No longer economically constrained by its national borders and reliant on its federal decisions, cities have become transboundary entities, transcending beyond physical boundaries. Its citizens hail from different nations, its culture at once varied and homogeneous across different global cities. Borders between nations are dissolving when viewed form the social and economic perspective, possibly heralding a future where cities, in place of nations, would become the major players in the political field as well. This thesis would therefore push the concept of a border in relation to a post-national ‘cyber’ future, where nations states have declined in their relative importance to supranational economic engines and organizations that transcend borders and physicality.

Speculate | 89

10.4 Increasing accessibility/autonomy/agency How would spaces in the city be accessed by its citizens? Would connectivity to cyberspace become a human right, or continue to be determined by capitalist forces? Again, we take into account the properties of cyberspace investigated in “Chapter 6 Properties of Cyberspace”. Initially conceptualised as a space universally accessible to all without restriction, this accessibility has been threatened by the dominance of profit-seeking capital, transformed into a space with walled gardens and silos. Yet, there are certain aspects of cyberspace that remain democratic and equitable, such as the diffusion of knowledge that allows for the spread of innovation, or the inclusiveness of virtual communities and ‘digital villages’ as previously mentioned. By playing to the strengths of cyberspace and translating it into the physical context, we could strive for a future ‘smart’ city that maintains the autonomy and accessibility of the individual in an otherwise polarized world. Physical accessibility to cyberspace gateways have to be ensured to facilitate this cause. As Anthony Townsend proposed, there are already five existing technology that would aid in the increase in an accessible smart city: broadband connectivity, cheap personal devices, open city data, cheap and accessible public interfaces as well as a robust cloud infrastructure. Besides physical access, citizen’s ability to reach the data they need to generate the information they want would be critical in ensuring a culture of collaboration and innovation. Previously, “Chapter 6.7 Interactive Feedback systems” on page 46 showed us the potential of ‘humanizing’ data through the ‘urban dashboard’ and the ‘gamification’ of feedback systems. Perhaps, by deeply integrating these technologies into built form, a more social ‘smart’ city would be guaranteed, or occur naturally. Moreover, we could further speculate on the multiidentity nature of cyberspace, and its embodiment in the physical world. The commodification of identity would be counterbalanced by bringing the ability for an individual to fluidly change perspectives and manifest oneself through different identities. The implication of such a proposition would mean an explosion of different cultures, and the antithesis of capitalism in a possibly post-human world. The next generation ‘smart’ city would therefore have to capitalize on these atomized groups, individuals, and identities, allowing the emergent formation and aggregation of these ‘subjects’ into new accessible networks in order to achieve a radically ‘open’ city as opposed to the silos we see in the versions today.

90 | Speculate

Questions to Ask

Issues to Address

Fragmenting global economies

Who has control and power?

Increasingly powerful corporations

Data for profit, and the increase in value of data

Where are the people?

Directions to Follow

Utilisation of the Cyberspace Domain

Infrastructure Mobility and De-materialisation

Trans- / PostNationalism

Inherent topdown approach

Access Control and Denial

Increasing accessibility, autonomy and agency

Speculate | 91

The Context

The Southeast Asian region is chosen with particular focus of the areas around Singapore. There exists socio-economic and political dynamics unique to the region that would set the stage for a unique crop of smart cities, requiring a different approach from the existing smart cities and their goals in other regions of the world. These macroscopic trends would impact the environment and context within which the city would evolve into the next generation of â&#x20AC;&#x153;smartâ&#x20AC;? cities. In this section, an analysis of the context seeks to unveil the connective tissues and nodes across the region. These connections may exist in the form of cross-border infrastructure, trans-national economic belts and intense political cooperation, formed within the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) framework. A case study on the uniqueness of Singapore as the test bed for such a speculation will further reveal the external and internal conditions unique to the city-state.

Image: Author

Singapore

Submarine Cable

ASCN City

Shipping Route

Cable Landing Pt.

Major Railways

Internet Exchange Pt.

Proposed Highspeed Rail

Port

Flight Route

Airport

Major Roads

Urban Area

Political Borders 0

500

1000km

Confluence of trade routes and infrastructure

11 THE SOUTHEAST ASIAN CONTEXT 11.1 The Geographic Location of Singapore The Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) is an international organization with members from culturally diverse backgrounds and stages of economic progress. Amongst them, Singapore is geographically located alongside one of the world’s busiest shipping routes linking the major economies of Eurasia and East Asia, at the choke-point of the Malacca Straits alongside Malaysia and Indonesia. Digitally, Singapore functions as a crucial node within the ICT network of the region,

94 | The Context

serving as the Asia Pacific headquarters to many international establishments due to its robust connectivity. Furthermore, it functions as the region’s busiest air hubs by international passenger and cargo traffic199, as evident by the number of air routes servicing the country. Given its connectivity throughout the region, Singapore is in a prime position for the speculation of a supranational cybernetic ‘smart’ city of the future.

SINGAPORE’S World’s Leading MARITIME CAPITAL RANKINGS Container Volume: ASEAN’s 17.88 million TEUs handled (2019) Busiest Asia’s Best Airport

2nd Most

201

DIGITALLY COMPETITIVE Country (2019)

203

202

200

Total passengers: 68,283,000 (2019)

CONTAINER TERMINAL 204

2ND Ease of

Doing Business

205

The Context | 95

ASCN1 City East Coast Economic Region Node IMT2 - Growth Triangle Subregion BIMP3 EastASEAN Growth Area Subregion Sijori4 Growth Triangle Subregion East Coast Economic Region Greater Mekong Subregion Iskanda Development Region Urban Area Belt and Road Initiative - Sea Belt and Road Initiative - Land Pacific Islands Forum IMT2 - Growth Triangle BIMP3 EastASEAN Growth Area Sijori4 Growth Triangle Proposed Highspeed Rail Major Railroads Major Roads Political Borders 0

500

1000km

1 ASCN - ASEAN Smart Cities Network 2 IMT - Indonesia-Malaysia-Thailand 3 BIMP - Brunei Darussalam-IndonesiaMalaysia-Philippines 4 Sijouri - Singpoare-Johor-Riau Islands

Economic regions and growth corridors 11.2 The Economic Position of Singapore and her Neighbours One of the most notable collaboration across ASEAN nations in recent years is the formation of the ASEAN Smart Cities Network (ASCN), which aims to be a ‘collaborative platform’ upon which would facilitate cooperation, exchange of ideas and funding on ‘smart and sustainable urban development’.206 It consists of 26 cities in 10 member states, each analysing the needs and current conditions and setting goals towards achieving an inclusive and sustainable ‘smart’ city. Besides ASCN, the ASEAN region enjoys many collaborations between neighbours and sub-region. The largest subregion economic cooperation by land area is the Brunei DarussalamIndonesia-Malaysia-Philippines East ASEAN Growth Area (BIMP-EAGA) founded in 1994, consisting of areas 96 | The Context

‘geographically far’ from their national capitals207. The Greater Mekong Subregion consisting of the 6 Indochina economies have helped channeled US$20 billion in investments since 1992208. Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand Growth Triangle chains major nodes within its member states, collaborating across the Malacca Straits up North to the Gulf of Thailand on developments such as infrastructure, agriculture, trade and tourism. Closer to Singapore, the 1989 Sijouri Growth Triangle represents a collaboration between the geographically close sub-regions of Singapore, Johor and the Riau Islands. Within Malaysia, the Iskandar Development Region seeks to capitalise on its proximity to Singapore and Indonesia, linking various townships and business campuses together.

The abundance of close regional collaborations, growth triangles and economic corridors highlights the willingness for countries in the region to engage in cross-border cooperation, allowing members to tap into the multiplicity brought about by shared resources, endeavours and ideas. Singapore is therefore in an ideal geographical position to tap into the spirit of collaboration, accelerated by the potential that an already trans-boundary cyberspace provides.

The Context | 97

2006 | Iskandar Malaysia

KTM Intercity Train Route North-South Expressway

Johorâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;Singapore Causeway

Woodlands Region

2026 (delayed) | KL-Singapore High-Speed Rail 2026 Tuas Second-Link

2026 | Forest City 2026 | Jurong Lake District

98 | The Context

Woodlands in Context Proposed Site Current / Future Developments Transportation Infrastructure Existing Rail Residential Zones Industrial/Business Districts Data Centres 0

5km

12 SINGAPORE - JOHOR OVERVIEW

2024 | Thomson–East Coast MRT

The tentative site chosen would be located within Woodlands, a major administration and transportation hub for the movement of goods, tourists and workers through the checkpoint from Malaysia to Singapore. Moreover, it connects the North region of Singapore to the city centre through the proposed NorthSouth Corridor. As such, Woodlands functions as an important geographic and economic node within the region. Moreover, it is home to a population of 253,530 within 9 neighbourhoods, a matured estate that hosts a diverse number of facilities, including shopping, restaurants, education and offices.209 As such, it represents an ideal test-bed for a ‘smart’ ecosystem that has strong domestic and international ties.

2023 | Punggol Digital District

| North-South Corridor

Central Business District The Context | 99

12.1 Developments in Singapore Punggol Digital District

North Sourh Corridor (NSC)

Jurong Lake District (JLD)

The 50-hectare ‘smart’ district is an integrated district with academic, enterprise and civic developments within. Opening in 2023, the district will boast the latest technologies such as the Open Digital Platform (ODP), autonomous vehicles and a suite of sensors forming ‘smart’ system. It is slated to generate 28,000 jobs within its Enterprise District, while hosting civic spaces such as a Community Playground and Heritage Trail for residents around Punggol.210

With a completion date of 2026, the 21.5km NSC will create an infrastructure and economic axis from the Northern areas of Woodlands and Sembawang, through Central areas of Yishun and Ang Mo Kio, down to the city centre. Citizens will benefit from the reduction in travel times, as well as the multiplication of economic activities along the corridor and the shortening of supply chains.212

Termed the ‘New Gateway for Singapore’, the 472-hectare JLD will be a business and education hub, combined with residential, park and cultural areas. Its proximity to the nation’s ports as well as the KL-Singapore High-Speed Rail (HSR) would ‘enhance the flow of talent and travellers’, bringing in tourism and employment to Singapore.211 ()

Fig. 66 Jurong Lake District master plan showcasing proximity and connectivity to KL, the HSR as well as within Singapore.

100 | The Context

Image: Jurong Lake District, https://www. jld.gov.sg/Western-Business-District/A-NewGateway-for-Singapore. .

12.2 Developments in Johor, Malaysia Forest City Johor

Iskandar Malaysia (IM)

New Economic Corridor

A 20-year project announced in 2006 with major capital investments from China, under her Belt and Road Initiative.213 The artificial islands will house 1370 hectares of residential development, boasting access and proximity to Singapore’s industrial and business regions through the Second Link, as well as the Johor region.

Home to 3 million citizens, IM was proposed in 2006 as a 474900hectare214 development region focusing on nine sectors of the economy, namely Electrical & Electronics, Petrochemical and Oleo-Chemical, Food & AgroProcessing, Logistics, Tourism, Creative, Healthcare and Financial. The region aims for a holistic and sustainable development under the Comprehensive Development Plan, utilising its geographical position on the Straits of Malacca and proximity to Singapore.

Announced in 2019, the yet-tobe-named economic corridor will chain together ‘nucleuses’ of developed small towns from Bandar in the capital of Kuala Lumpur (KL) down to the Johor region, allowing them to further develop through collaboration and exchange of ideas.215 It would incorporate the KL-Singapore High-Speed Rail as part of its development.

Fig. 67 Forest City development showcasing its proximity to devleopment corridors in Malaysia, as well as connectivity within Singapore.

Image: Sasaki Associates, https://www. sasaki.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/ iskandar_website-1800x1473.jpg

The Context | 101

13 WHY THE DISCOURSE ON SINGAPORE?

Geographic location As demonstrated in â&#x20AC;&#x153;Chapter 11 The Southeast Asian Contextâ&#x20AC;?, Singapore is located at the confluence of trade and communication, functioning as a world-class node with access to major economies. Moreover, its virtual and physical proximity to large markets in the region such as Indonesia and Malaysia, as discussed and demonstrated in the previous chapters, presents an ideal location for a trans-national city in a gradually fragmenting, yet at the same time collaborative world. The presence of many existing inter-country collaborations, corridors and development triangles presents a lively canvas upon which the next smart city, one transcendent of its physical borders, can be viably located.

Political stability Although the government in Singapore has frequently been criticized for its treatment of dissent and controversial approach to democracy, it is generally perceived to be politically competent and corruption free, ranking amongst the top countries in transparency indexes216. Citizen trust in the competent and reliable government allows for the smooth introduction and adoption of new initiatives and thereby progress.217 This dynamism is critical for the small nation fully exposed to fluctuating forces of globalization. Moreover, the political stability as a result of a one party regime allows the government to enact long term farsighted strategic plans in confidence, without fear of discontinuity and political disruptions. in addition, Singaporeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s liberal (ease of doing business and low taxation) yet socialist stance in many of its policies provides confidence to large international corporations looking for an Asian headquarters. The combination of these factors allows for the formation of a well-developed smart city that has the support of the citizens, government and business organizations.

102 | The Context

Nation = City, Size advantage As a small city state without counties and provinces, Singapore reaps the benefits of both being a city and a country. Its small size minimizes the levels of bureaucratic red tape and coordination required to enact policies, and as highlighted in Eden Strategy Institute and ONG&ONG’s ‘Top 50 Smart Governments’, Singapore’s centralized governance allows its innovation programmes to be synthesized and aligned more easily with its vision’.218 The city’s scale allows it to be flexible, allowing it to react to external changes and internal demands with agility. Size also allows it to coordinate between different ministries more effectively, breaking down silos and adopting a ‘whole of government’ approach crucial in the multidiscipline, multi-faceted development of a smart city.219

Desire to be ‘smart’, willingness to experiment Its size, however, results in the reliance on global economies and susceptibility of the nation to economic downturn. Without a hinterland, Singapore’s survival and continued development lies in its ability to remain ahead of other economies in terms of ease of business, connectivity and talent cultivation and attraction. To ensure continuous growth and favourable environments for business, efficiency and adaptability is at the core of its strategy. By achieving more with less, the nation city would be able to effectively utilize its limited resources in the right areas. As such, the ‘smart’ nation initiative plays a crucial role in the understanding of the city and its functions, on resource management and allocation, as well as the attraction of foreign businesses. Given the willingness of the government to invest, adopt and experiment on new technology in order to remain competitive, Singapore represents a viable environment for the next generation ‘smart’ city.

The Context | 103

The Narrative

This thesis speculates on a Singapore 55 years into the future, in 2075. Within this time frame, in the past, Singapore had gone from an occupied colonial region, into a sovereign and developed nation. Moreover, the economic and political context within which the nation exists has evolved, with the growth of Internet-based communications and information systems penetrating every aspect of being a nation. At the same time, attitudes towards the environment have shifted towards resilience and sustainability, and have become agendas at the forefront of nation planning, with the Ministry of Environment being renamed to the Ministry of Sustainability and the Environment in July 2020, and the launch of a S$100 billion climate change protection measures over 100 years. Given the vast and rapid development in the past 55 years, what will Singapore look like in the next 55 years?

104 | The Narrative

The Narrative | 105

14 SINGAPORE’S REALITY AND CYBERSPACE

14.1 The case for Hybrid Reality Economic Changes This thesis investigates Singapore In a timeline where the macro conditions around her have changed for the worse. It occurs in a future where the shipping industry and cargo transport through Singapore and the Malacca Straits is no longer a viable option. This could be a possibility in two scenarios. Firstly, it could occur with the inevitable melt of Arctic ice caps, enough for the opening of shipping lanes along the Northern Sea Route along the coasts of Russia.220 According to the New York Times, ordinary cargo ships could be allowed to traverse through the North Pole by 2045 to 2060.221 It could also occur in a situation in which Thailand decides to open the Kra Isthmus Canal connecting the Andaman Sea to the Gulf of Thailand. In 2020, Thailand once again reconvened an investigation towards the feasibility of the project.222 In both of these (very real) scenarios, Singapore is bypassed as a transhipment hub. Moreover, the nation’s reliance of oil refinement exports (being the third-largest oil trading hub and one of the world’s top refining centres) would be threatened, and cannot be relied upon as a stable source of income in the future decades.223

Northern Sea Route 6,857nm

Singapore Southern Sea Route 10,754nm

Fig. 68 Northern versus Southern Sea Route. Note that the Earth is a sphere, and a flat projection of it distorts actual distances at the poles. Data: Cho Y. The Melting Arctic Changing the World: New Sea Route. A Conference on Energy Security and Geopolitics in the Arctic: Challenges and Opportunities in the 21stCentury. http://esi.nus.edu.sg/docs/event/jan9-cho.pdf.

To survive, Singapore would have to diversify from shipping and oil, continuing to innovate and develop in other industries. In the current situation, the nationstate has been often heralded as the ‘gateway’ to Asia and ASEAN due to its high-speed connections, infrastructure and security.224 How would Singapore achieve and sustain this status? Singapore would be forced to put innovation at the very forefront of its national development, and continue to build up its connections, within and without, aggressively.

Singapore Fig. 69 The Thailand Kra Isthmus Canal shortcut that bypasses Singapore.

106 | The Narrative

Geographical Constraints At the same time, land constraints within the tiny island nation continue to become ever more severe with constant population growth225 and rapidly rising sea levels. As the country reaches its physical border limits for land reclamation, the country would be required to find other means for extension, whether by building up, digging down, or in the scope of this thesis, expanding virtually.

The Next Steps Singapore may need to seek a virtual version of itself, extending its borders through cyberspace, in order to effectively mitigate to the challenges brought up before, and adapt to a new world. Cyberspace is the next essential frontier in the nation’s expansion after reclamation, and should be treated as the next reality. It is therefore essential to design a physical Singapore that takes full advantage of its relation with cyberspace, in our inescapable transition from a maritime and oil nation in a ‘cybernation’.

The Narrative | 107

Connectivity Extending national ‘space’

15 A VISION OF HETEROTOPIA 15.1 A National Development Strategy Adaptability & Development

within limited ‘space’ and rapidly changing environments

Virtualization and dematerialization Acquiring more ‘space’ from a unit volume of physical space

Upgrading the Human Making citizens more efficient, reactive and therefore adaptable

108 | The Narrative

Cooperation with neighbours towards a different capitalistic future

Co-development with regional neighbours, allowing for a united front in development, allowing the region to have far greater gravity than the sum of its land area. This is in line with the global trend of fragmenting world economy, and converging regional economies that can be observed today.226

High-speed tansportation infrastructure Introducing faster and more efficient inter- and intra-national transport, shrinking the virtual distances between nodes around the region and within Singapore, through underground hyperloops and supersonic air travel. How would physical transport play a part in cyberspace-laden world?

Integrated communication and network infrastructures Maintaining an edge as an international hub for Asia and ASEAN by boasting high connectivity and low latency communications. This would allow Singapore to tap into knowledge-intensive and information-intensive global flows.

Morphing space Manipulation of real world environments in real time with finesse, through the use of ‘picoprocessors’, ‘picosensors’ and actuators. Through the use of self-assembling components, robots and automation, overlaid and enhanced with layers of cyberspace elements, a new places can be rapidly deployed or enacted within a single physical space. In doing so, planners and architects have the opportunity to overlay more spaces within another, creating accidental and intended heterotopias, and squeezing more space wihin space. How would humans live in a dynamically generated environment, metamorphosizing blank spaces into desired places?

“Into the cloud” Replacement of physical processes and the adoption of the latest digital tools to the fullest extent, maintaining competitive advatage (that might at times, be at the detriment of other priorities and sectors). In today’s context, companies continue to migrate their processes and data into shared and rentable data centres maintained by major cloud providers such as Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure, allowing them flexibility and bypassing limitations of self-managed data centres.227 At the same time, edge computing gains traction as digital services miniaturise and become ever more efficient. How would this shape the physical landscape of the future? Would this herald an era of large centralized data centres that dominate the horizon? Or lead to highly decentralized servers that prioritise high volume data traffic resulting in large, high speed radio towers?

Balance of State Control vs Citizen Authorship Transparency and accountability could be one of the keys to the adaptability of Singapore. This could be done through citizen engagement, through the provision of gathering spaces in physical or cyberspace, as well as the access to tools and information. Though this thesis proposes a population that is fluid with its citizens unlocked in their geographic location and identity, transparency and participation would provide citizens with a larger stake towards the nation, and ultimately enhancing governance through increasing information transmitted through the cybernetic feedback loop.

Trans-human

While the nation seeks to tap into the knowledge-intensive supply chains and flows, the state would have to prepare citizens and equip them in order to take advantage of these flows. By allowing citizens to expand their ability to harness technologies and access content more readily, collaboration and innovation within the country and across nations would be unlocked and encouraged. This could come in the form of cyborg enhancements and radical equipment, in order for citizens to truly immerse themselves into the metastasized networks that connect tomorrow’s world.

The Narrative | 109

15.2 How will this be manifested? As shown in the previous sectionm, cyberspace is the nationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s next frontier its development plan. In the next 20 years, in the typical Singaporean policy style, the National Cyberspace Administration (NCA) would be formed to address the migration and administration of major parts of the economy and infrastructure into cyberspace. Thereafter, it will be in charge of maintaining its environment, ensuring security, organization and policing of cyberspace and relevant physical spaces that are integral to it. The project will therefore take the perspective of this ministry, and showcase its initiatives at the national, neighborhood and individual level. It will feature interagency collaborations, including cooperations with the other physical ministries, private corporate players as well as international partners.

110 | The Narrative

LAUNCHING OF

THE TOGETHER, CONNECTED PLAN NATIONAL CYBERSPACE ADMINISTRATION

#HighSpeedTransport #Drones #CommnicationTowers #CityBrain #HighSpeedCommunication #SubterraneanLiving #ConnectedHDBs #TheGrid The Narrative | 111

ANNOUNCEMENT

OPENING OF THE NEW

WOODLANDS COMMUNITY REALITY CENTRE

30 . AUG . 2066

Come join us at for a day of learning and ideas exchange! Learn from our ambassadors on the latest changelogs! Revisit the parks of olden days, and walk your neo-dogs at the new PetSimulator2, the first in the ASEAN region! Experience AuralTouch Engine, the use of sound waves to stimulate your senses and simulate human touch! Review your health statistics with our PicoHealth sensors! Combining with data from your registered apartment, get your latest life expectancy predictions instantly!

Bring your HybridGear and inject into the network via 124.142.1592.115291 to access Data District 3. Sanitation will be provided.

NATIONAL CYBERSPACE ADMINISTRATION always by your side

112 | The Narrative

The Narrative | 113

INTELLIGENT FORESTS 3.0 FULFILLING 100 YEARS OLD VISIONS 3 . MAR . 2070

Our Trees are now networked into the National Frame! The Administration has completed the installation of 251 Data Trees within our forests, bringing Singapore one step forward in the realm of Applied Forestry and Computation. Besides being a producer of Oxygen, our trees are now radiowave -

producing nodes,

enabling you to connect seamlessly into the nationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Brainframe.

Check them out at

154.742.7192.115283

NATIONAL CYBERSPACE ADMINISTRATION always by your side

114 | The Narrative

“

I like to think (and the sooner the better!) of a cybernetic meadow where mammals and computers live together in mutually programming harmony like pure water touching clear sky. I like to think (right now, please!) of a cybernetic forest filled with pines and electronics where deer stroll peacefully past computers as if they were flowers with spinning blossoms. I like to think (it has to be!) of a cybernetic ecology where we are free of our labors and joined back to nature, returned to our mammal brothers and sisters, and all watched over by machines of loving grace.

”

“All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace”228 Richard Braitogan, 1967

The Narrative | 115

UNLOCK NEW DIMENSIONS OUR POWER-ARM JUST GOT BETTER. Certified by the experts at NCA, the PowerArm is integrated in 80% of all networks within Singapore. Get life-like tactile feedback when you interact with digital objects!

SECURE

Buy it at

EMOTIVE TOUCH

BIOMETRIC

144.725.2182.182383

NATIONAL CYBERSPACE ADMINISTRATION always by your side 116 | The Narrative

COOLING

The Narrative | 117

RECRUITMENT DRIVE

JOIN OUR RANKS

118 | The Narrative

BE PART OF THE

REVOLUTION The NCA has a 20 year history of successful projects. We have completed projects at the International, National and District level, including:

Issuance of World Citizen Digital Identity

Integration of the Brainframe into HDBs

Fund 5000 surgical operations for ‘Seeing Eye’ technology

CONTACT OUR ADMINSTRATION

JOIN US

NATIONAL CYBERSPACE ADMINISTRATION always by your side

The Narrative | 119

A STUDY IN FICTION What does the future look like through the cinematic lens? This section examines the fictional experiments that movies immerse their audiences in, and take a peak at the critique of directors on a fictional future.

120 | A Study in Fiction

A Study in Fiction | 121

Building sized bill-boards

Excessive pyramids

16.1 Blade Runner (1982) Los Angeles - 2019

16.2 Blade Runner 2049 (2017) Los Angeles - 2049

Poorly lit factories

Industrial smoke stacks against the backdrop of towering pyramids

Oppressive built density 3.5km-tall, ominous and looming towers1 Brutalist architecture (although arguably misused from the manifesto of brutalism2) Decay of civilisation Distressed textures1 (with worn out concrete in a hazy world) Monotonous haze across scenes Presents a bleak, dystopian future Rampant consumerism Building size advertisements and holograms that promote illusions and escape Artificial glow in the streets from advertisement

Tyrell Corporation android manufacturing pyramids - a symbol of royalty and power

Globalisation Appropriation of culture in props (e.g. umbrellas) Presence of various languages foreign to Los Angeles (Japanese and Chinese pbserved) 1 Samantha Buckley. “Inside the Production of the Massive Miniature Models Used to Film Blade Runner 2049” 20 Nov 2017. ArchDaily. Accessed 20 Jul 2020. <https://www.archdaily. com/883749/inside-the-production-of-blade-runner-2049-s-massivemodel-world> ISSN 0719-8884 2 Clemoes C, Sweitzer A. Is it Really Brutalist Architecture in Blade Runner 2049? Failed Architecture. https://failedarchitecture.com/isit-really-brutalist-architecture-in-blade-runner-2049/. Accessed July 19, 2020.

122 | A Study in Fiction

Hazy glows from the street , contrasted by billboards

Glow of bill-boards with the 35km tall LAPD tower Dancing, unavoidable holograms

Vending machine alley

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Neonâ&#x20AC;?-lit streetscape, injected with corporate advertisement, holograms and multiple languages

Deserted highways, against sillhhouettes of abandoned buildingstowers

Speckles of holograms and billboards

Wall/dam?

Poorly lit squatters

low-rise un-lit huts, contrasting with hazy glows from tower billboards afar A Study in Fiction | 123

A digital layer superimposed on buildings, concealing its actual facade

Building scale holograms, akinned to a second skin

Looming holographs

16.3 Ghost in the Shell (1982) Globalisation

Button activated? Holographic traffic lights

Pan-Asian, Hong Kong styled metropolis Rampant consumerism Skyscraper-scale holograms and advertisements overhang the city

Neo-Hong Kong, exisitng infrastructure overlayed with holograms

Built form and advertising become tangled and inseparable, as a second skin.1 Oppressive built density Overcrowded and wealthy cities that choose to build up in to hyper-dense structures2 Inequality and division Continued presence of packed quarters and slums Mixed in with industrial infrastructure

Existing Present-day Apartments Juxtaposed with a shadowed, industrial system

1 Reminscent of “Learning from Las Vegas” - Robert Venturi 2 Strelka Magazine. “Examining the Constructed World of the Blockbuster Movie “Ghost in the Shell”” 03 Aug 2017. ArchDaily. Accessed 20 Jul 2020. <https://www.archdaily.com/876735/ examining-the-city-of-ghost-in-the-shell> ISSN 0719-8884

124 | A Study in Fiction

Slums on the outskirts of the city

Overcast, tinted skies

Buildings are glitzy with golden hues and patterns

Continued existence of cultural buildings Glitzy contemporary architecture

Impressive high-tech surface city

Bay of ruins, of desolation and incomplete constructions

16.4 Cloud Atlas

Desolated ruins outside the city, in the midst of glowing towers

Neo-Seoul of 2144 Inequality and division Upper regions full of architectural marvels Lower levels slum like and run down, threatened by rising sea levels Manufactured society Use of clones and androids to control and maintain peace

Baumschulenweg Crematorium A Study in Fiction | 125

16.5 Minority Report (2002) Washington D.C. of 2054 Manufactured society Artificial peace through police state A post-crime era, in which people are arrested pre-crime Inequality and division Clean and shiny top layer of highways and autonomous transport, of clean air and spacious towers. Under-belly of disorganization and clutter

16.6 Dredd (2012) Mega City One Oppressive built density Everything Mega - highways and buildings are tall, wide and monolithic structures Monolithic, looming towers Decay of civilisation Cursed Earth, hazy distance Crime-ridden future Manufactured society Artificial peace imposed by a police state, where â&#x20AC;&#x153;Judgesâ&#x20AC;? dictate, enforce and execute the law.

126 | A Study in Fiction

16.7 Logan’s Run (1997) City of Domes of 2274 United Artists Manufactured society Caged and imprisoned population, who are conditioned in domes that becomes the only world they know, controlled unconsiously by invisible decisions behind the scene.

16.8 Æon Flux (2005) Bregna of 2415 Paramount Pictures Manufactured society Glossy and calm on the outside but greatly troubled beneath the surface. “Perfect” society within a walled city

Baumschulenweg Crematorium 127

â&#x20AC;&#x153;

Technology Is the Answer,

128

â&#x20AC;?

But What Was the Question?

Cedric Price, 1966

129

17 WHAT FUTURE? This thesis seeks to speculate on the trend of unbridled technological implementation within our built environment, where the varied integration of and seemingly benevolent decisions made on technology in everyday lives may cumulate into an unstable and unsustainable future, without our realization of the consequences that have been unleashed. Building on previous research on the hopes and pitfalls of today’s Smart Cities, three primary stakeholders are considered here: the people, the government, and corporate entities. Within this framework, the relationships and dynamics are investigated. Who, in reality, has the ultimate control within the next generation smart city, and how truly smart are people in an inherently topdown smart city? How will data ownership, collection and surveillance tip the balance of power? Or will we be subjected to modular forms of control that penetrates throughout Deleuze’s Society of Control, as a result of the ubiquitous presence of technology? As citizens, are we inevitably heading towards a loss of autonomy, merely pawns within a larger economic machine? Are Smart Cities merely facades of technocratic endeavours? Through the use of fiction, worldbuilding and visualization, a series made of three acts will invite you to join in the discussions on the Internet-ofThings of today, extrapolating, caricaturing and challenging established dogma. Architecture performs as a character within, taken into context and hosting this uncanny future. It presents a future Singapore that had been at the intersection of a divided line within a fragmented global economy,

130

and as a result had sought to be the hub that connects decoupled giants and economic engines with starkly different modes of governance, beliefs and mechanisms. Further driven by international affairs such as the diversion of shipping routes away from the Straits of Malacca, the rivers of trade that once filled its coffers has gradually dried up. Its status as a trans-shipment hub oil refinery hub has been long forgotten, relegated into the historical archives. The narrative takes the position of the National Cyberspace Agency, a governmental statutory board that oversees the integration of virtual space into the physical Singapore and was established in 2045, having authority over cyberspace and its manifestation in society in the 2070s. Its goal is to shape Singapore to be a technologically advanced and compatible digital hub that connects the East and the West through investments in infrastructures of connectivity and by extension collaboration, thereby aligning with Singapore’s national agenda of being a neutral platform for all to engage in business and data transactions. To achieve this goal, the NCA has to collaborate with different governmental agencies and ensure that Singapore and her residents are always at the cutting edge of technological implementation. The relentless pursuit of the latest and newest brings back into focus the different forms of technological solutionism and technocratic tendencies of today, impacting political, social, moral, economic and environmental aspects of cities.

Collage (Right Page) A collage of the varoious “Smart Nation” initiatives boasted by various governmental organizations and civil services. Most efforts in Singapore focus on security and safety aspects, deploying technology to improve monitoring and surveilance efficacy.

131

2021

Cyberspace

Society

Environment

Fidelity to the Virtual Separated by a screen Solid and tangible interface.

Post-Pandemic Adaption Consideration for containment, flexibility, resilience and back-ups in design.

Environmental Hinge Point Now or never. Environmental awareness, yet constant degradation.

Global Fragmentation Protectionist policies and bifurcation of technology amongst major powers.

Limited Resource Preservation Continued reliance on natural gas and generation of large amounts of waste.

Computing Towards ubiquitous computing in consumer devices and Surveillance and Data Ownership Increasing awareness of privacy and individual rights. However, continued embedding of pervasive sensors into environment.

2045

Fidelity to the Virtual Hybrid Reality Distinguishable interface Computing Ubiquitous computing, proliferation of edge computing/personal servers and large district data centres Surveillance and Data Ownership Revolution? Or intensified integration

2075

Fidelity to the Virtual Hybrid Virtuality Blurred interface Computing Data centres integrated into common infrastructure

132

Towards a Digital Hub Singapore as the neutral party in SEA, as a trans-data and transtechnology hub, facilitating access, shipment and communication between increasingly divisive world. Diversion of trade routes Strengthening of International Pacts to secure Singapore’s position as a financial, research, education, data and knowledge hub.

Environmental Downfall Undeniable. Mitigation. Start of construction of sea walls and dukes.

Artificial Intelligence Flagrant use of artificial intelligence, superseding human decisions and disenfranchising the common person. Protests against the extreme widespread adoption of such technology

Continued Resource Preservation District cooling systems constructed. Distribution to apartments, offices and data centres. Waste heat recovery methods.

Democratic Artificial Intelligence The right to vote for and against major decisions, biases in systems. The need to come into a consensus.

Environmental Collapse Construction of conservatories to preserve green heritage within geodesic domes. Completion of sea walls.

Realisation of Digital Workers The need to acknowledge disembodied work done behind the scenes of digital infrastructure.

That which had been natural, is now a privilege Paying to experience nature. Paying to allow a change in decisions from the simulated “good”.

Built Environment Home Dilution of work and living limits due to popularisation of Work-fromHome policies

Home The house as a cocoon against pervasive technology? Or a data collection receptacle? Or an extended search mechanism for knowledge and convenience?

Home Do we need actual physical space, when we can be immersed in a boundless virtual space? Increasing density by housing citizens into blank canvases upon which a new reality could be projected upon.

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18 EVALUATING TODAY’S TRENDS, SPECULATING TOMORROWS FUTURE

Category

Signals

Drivers

Forecast

Geopolitical

Fragmentation

Increased trade and highvolume supply chains

Further Bifurcation of technology (not trade) – incompatible networks, systems and architecture

Increasing protectionist policies of countries around the World. Tensions between major powers flare on uneven trade deals, debts and strategic investments. Increasing trading ties with China, Belt and Silk Road Decoupling of manufacturing process and reduction in reliance

Influence of foreign governments that extend far beyond its borders Singapore’s desire to remain as a neutral party in trade, as a small nation state trying to survive, with development as its only survival strategy. (Willing to take calculated risks)

Increase in regional trade Singapore’s standing as a friend to all/neutral trading partner is increasingly jeopardized Increase in difficulty to maintain relationships on all sides (incidents of conflict between Singapore and China, holding of Terex in Hong Kong)

Singapore as a thriving hub, allowing connectivity/ access to both sides . Collaboration with neighbouring countries to provide for more geopolitical power on international stage.

The constant need to choose, between a proChina or pro-Western movement. Increasing pro-China manoeuvres through strategic investment strategies that increases her soft power.

Regional cohesion, facilitated by increased connectivity, increased regional threats. Stronger together - the combination of regional nations allow for a louder voice on the international community

Political

Sensationalist and divisive views Politically divisive and polarisation of population Viral and sensationalistic news achieves higher popularity and reach than truths, with their rapid propagation propelled by social networks and ease of communication.

134

Social media bubbles and reinforcement of own “truths” – Coalescing of individuals with aligned views, amplification of own beliefs Technology, data and who controls the data become the ultimate captain and decisionmakers of societal views

Mechanisms of social media continue to shape and mould views. Shift in balance of control towards corporations and social media giants.

Scenarios

Scenes

2045

Data Centre on Tidal Pool Scene

Further Bifurcation of technology (not trade) – incompatible networks, systems and architecture

News coverage on increased trade/import in electricity, data sharing, network reliability

Singapore as a thriving hub, allowing connectivity/access to both sides . Collaboration with neighbouring countries to provide for more geopolitical power on international stage. Side with one side (e.g. China) Increasing pro-China manoeuvres

2075 Two sets of technology, with a bridge mechanism that places Singapore as a hub

Park Scene Domes and greenhouses that showcase the both capitalist and socialist views through landscape organization and assignment – e.g. Rows of nicely curated, trimmed and proper gardens (power and control over nature) versus wild and natural growth – free to grow, survival of the fittest MRT Scene “Curated content” for the individual – advertisements, warning signs and government advisories that are politically - friendly Housing Scene Contrasts between public housing and private condominiums within neighbourhoods

2045

Data Centre on Tidal Pool Scene

Regional collaboration, passportless access to cross borders

Singapore as the supplier of technological know-how and equipment, while allowing other nations to host their processes in a high-speed, secured, and neutral environment.

Regional energy grid – tapping into the potential of large land tracts and renewable energy of neighbours, increasingly integrating the infrastructure between neighbours resulting in a wider regional network.

Economies of scale - the specialisation and complimentary nature of regional nations allow for stronger performance and benefits for all parties involved.

2045

Operation of the City-State as a software.

Corporate influence in policy decisions increase

Provided by Private Corporations (as our phone OS are today)

2075

SingOS as an over-reaching power within society, from plug in connections to external countries, management of infrastructure, security, and upgrades

Corporate infiltration and manipulation of political decisions under a superficial layer of government.

Treatment of society as a software system, its operations within softwarelike environments, with the ability to track, upgrade, and deprecate items in the list, in response to previous research of Smart Cities. Augmented Reality allows people to live freely within their own world. However, each person lives in their own reality, creaing biased environments that favour their interests while strategically ignoring those that are not. Social division and strive results. Moreover, you can alter how things look (e.g. construction area filled with trees and flowers), and how other people perceives you at a premium price. After all, why should humans attempt to fix the system when there already exists the solution?

135

Category

Signals

Drivers

Forecast

Social

Deeply divided and unequal society

Unequal access to skills and training towards the adoption of new technology

Increased national push towards a digital society and global citizens, allowing the flexibility and convenience of virtual communication, while allowing the surveillance and guidance of citizens to become a more ordered and disciplined society.

Increase in GINI coefficient Increase in xenophobia (ideas of foreign expatriates taking over jobs remain or have become polarising topics)

A Digital Identity Increase in applications and software that require verification of identity and “being human” to use service. Authentication methods tied to physical, sometimes national identity, and increasing migration of personal data to online national data-bases. For example, Singapore’s implementation of digital identity through SingPass, e-Estoniia through E-Identity The Multi-Identity Nature of the Internet Having multiple identities contribute to the anonymity of users of the Internet, allowing the “freedom of expression”, whether for the better or worse.

136

Increase in competition due to ease of trading/open economy – Singapore’s attempt to achieve status as a technological/trading hub

Ease of creating multiple identities and the safety net of anonymity allows for crimes and fraud to be committed without fear of repercussions Governments and companies around the world playing catchup to the multi-identity nature of the Internet.

Governments, through the instrument of regulations on corporations, will attempt to: 1.

Control and limit identities in cyberspace for accountability as well as national security

Harness the data collected from its citizens in order to improve efficiency and provide better service for its citizens

Scenarios

Scenes

Continued efforts to educate, as well as ensure access to relevant technology

Community/Market Scene

Promote digital literacy and education, granting the Internet as a fundamental human right

Entertainment that cater to the elite with the necessary equipment and access to technology Community centres that allow free access to equipment at rented rates. What is a community in the future? What are the “public squares” that hosts these communities and allow interactions between citizens? Are communities centres hollow shells that merely allow individuals to exist in the same physical space, while actual interactions and socialization occurs ? How would they be arranged and presented?

2075

Digital Identity – SingPass3.0:

Consolidation of one’s identity into a single multi-faceted account for life

Your aggregated identity system (much like login and password storage software of today)

Takes into account Social Standing, background, activity on and off the Internet

Switching profiles allowing one to visit and manage multiple parts of their lives However, social standing will still be aggregated by the scheme – in the name of accountability, security and traceability. MRT Scene Assignment of seats in accordance to social standing and performance. Presenting a more effiicient way of organizing people and fully utilizing all resources, in a world with almostperfect knowledge on the who, what, where, why of citizens. ProxyBOT Ad Your physical assistant in your virtual world. Allow it to respond on your behalf, after learning about your preferences and way of speech. “Take control at anytime!” – to give false sense of ownership and control over AI. Multiple ProxyBOTs allow one to be at multiple places at once – transference of multi-identity property of the virtual realm into the physical Community/Market Scene Allow ProxyBOT to shop/gather things on its owner’s behalf The ultimate replacement of a human from the physical world, emphasizing the effect of automation, Artificial Intelligence, and questioning the agency of “human” in our digital society.

137

Category

Signals

Drivers

Forecast

Values

Debate on privacy and rights to information/ rights to make decisions

Proliferation of surveillance capitalism brought about by financial model of social media (if you are not paying for it, you are the product) - Data for profit

Continued disregard to untethered corporate power

Increased regulations to limit and control influence of companies

Questions on privacy and security of apps Increase in cyber-security

Increasingly powerful corporations

Increase awareness of social media and its impact Modern smart cities and their manifestation

Debate on the issues of government surveillance and citizen rights

Enabled by technology – that every movement in cyberspace is by default tracked and logged.

Increase in surveillance methodology in the name of security and efficiency

Enabled by the desire to be in control (technologies not exploited by one will be done by another)

Increase in awareness of widespread dragnet-type surveillance (NSA) Every lamppost a smart lamppost – 2013 Little India Riots Panoptic CCTV installations, and tracking of people (ERP)

138

“Citizens to be organized and ordered through digital infrastructure” Singapore’s governmentcentric development of smart nation strategies

Further rapid government adoption of surveillance technology – societies of control

Scenarios

Scenes

2045

Housing Scene

Infiltration into everyday life, with corporate push for advertisements (with “free” use of corporate products) Systems are set up by the government, and given to private corporations to run (privatisation)

2075 Ad-block for life? Increasing antiestablishment plug-ins and software to combat high infiltration of technology.

The Home: Advertisement/Profit/Tracking Are apartments cocoons/traps? Condominiums as tools for data collection for furthering the larger cause of advancing society (and profit of corporations). Advertisements on HDB flats OR a Faraday cage from constant information bombardment? Community/Market Scene Eradication of underground, “untracked” physical markets 1. For states – accountability and security, prevent illegal trade and black markets 2. For corporations – surveillance capitalism Showcased by the establishment of market trackers Physical market environments, Virtual authenticated trades – no physical goods present. Allows for the tracking of carbon taxation - Environmental

2045

SingPass3.0 in MRT Station Scene

Citizens controlled and manipulated into an efficient, pragmatic society. Further embedding sensors into environment

Advertisements to showcase such a system, allows the government to consolidate all relevant information of an individual onto one platform:

(e.g. Adoption of Chinese surveillance technology, point system and watching-eye) 2075 Citizens realization and protests against widespread surveillance state

• “Upgrade your SingOS3.0 now!” • “The guardian angel of life – ensuring the safety of all” Tapping into the MRT. Housing Scene Panoptic Police network monitoring crimes (e.g. jaywalking) – related to Identity Ensuring that you are doing things for the country. Service to the country. Different political parties that advocate different modes – paternal society Maybe it’s a decision by the local council to decide their relationship with the state Schism in people’s mentality in Silos of government/state systems Externally issue or internal change – people jockeying for different sides of statehood Direct descendant of Lee Kwan Yew / international politician

139

Category

Signals

Drivers

Forecast

Economic

The push towards a global trading hub not just in terms of shipping and oil refinery, but the diversification to become a digital/technological hub

Geopolitical factors, reduction in reliance on oil

Singapore as a test-bed/ thought experiment

Increase in importance of data and compute technology

Change in the role of people, from designers and architects to managers of computers, upkeep of data centres, as well as subjects (to be acted on and to act out)(link to paper)

Data as the new oil â&#x20AC;&#x201C; converting dumb electrons to smart electrons

Increase in investments on servers and capitalism Marketing of Singapore as a commercial centre

Environmental

At the critical hinge point of environment disaster Increase in awareness at the citizen level, and warnings by scientists. Government adoption of/largescale implementation of widespread environmental initiatives

Technology

Creation of Ministry of Sustainability

Announcement of $100billion to protect Singapore against rising sea levels.

The search for alternate sources of energy, from solar farms in Australia to the regional power grid.

The irony of the digital and physical. Increase in AR and VR applications Physical VS Virtual Presence

140

As a centre of commerce, with sound physical and legal infrastructure

Reluctance of people to change habits, inaction of governments around the world. Technological solution-ism (looking forward to new developments as oppose to changing existing ways)

Merger of digital and physical realm, driven by the drive to introduce convenience and efficiency via the Internet of Things.

Further degradation of the environment till oblivion. Any actions might be too little and too late.

Ever increasing need for data centres â&#x20AC;&#x201C; such that they overtake our physical spaces, and our priority for physical resources

Scenarios

Scenes

2045

Data Centre Scene

Continued adoption and education of citizens as technologically savvy data sets (produce and receive data)

People as lab-rats? – homes as laboratories and data collectors

Digital infrastructure investments become national priority above all (proliferation of data centres and servers)

Electricity processor – Singapore as the regional BrainHub across the region, allowing neighbours to utilise and share networking resources, thereby increasing reliability of the overall system and efficiency in distribution.

2075 1.

Increasingly blurred boundaries between work and home?)

Anti-establishment/ awakening

2045

Housing Scene

Desperate repair/correction (e.g. embargo and rationing of certain products

Ad – Experience Green Luxury

Increased acceleration of the building of environmental protection measures

Continued investments in renewable and alternative sources of energy (implementation of solar, investments in tidal energy)

2075 Conservation/salvage efforts instead of desperate repair/correction. 1.

Covering up flaws (e.g. replace your sky)

Turning a blind eye to the degrading world outside

Exclusive Green houses within private estates highlights the rarity and therefore profitability of green spaces housed in climate-controlled greenhouses, in a world where temperatures are too high for tree growth. Park Scene Large Greenhouses/Conservatories – public parks that contain Singapore’s last natural forest habitats and naturally occurring vegetation. Data Centre on Tidal Pool Scene Large Tidal Pools as basis for energy recover, and reservoirs for cooled water for Data Centres and Power Stations around the region.

ProxyBOT Physical presence represented by a digital entity. Community/Market Scene Would we need a physical gathering space in a digitally infused world? Would people gather just to go “online”? Data Centre Scene Living within/for the Cloud The physical presence of the “clouds” in the form of data centres have overtaken our physical environment. Our physical enjoyment of spaces in contrast, have been moved into this “formless” cloud. 141

20 Johorâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;Singapore Causeway

Woodlands Checkpoint

Marsling MRT Station

142

The Northern Node Site North South MRT Line Roads Existing Rail Residential Zones Industrial/Business Districts Commercial Leisure Forest / Greenfield Data Centres 0 100

500m

020 | Woodlands North MRT Station

024 | Thomsonâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;East Coast MRT

North South Corridor

Admiralty MRT Station

Woodlands MRT Station

143

Power Plant - Tidal Sea Wall

Tidal P

Power Plant - Heat Regen. (Underground)

144

020 | Woodlands North MRT Station

Pool

Distillation

Power, Data and Cooling Green Biomes

Tidal Pool

Data Centres

Power Plant - Tidal

Industrial/Commercial Distillation

Power Plant - Heat Regen.

Cold Coolant

Hot Coolant

Aparrtments

Power

Water 145

CONCRETE CLOUDS Data centres symbolize the irony of the term â&#x20AC;&#x153;Cloudâ&#x20AC;?. The idea of formless entity that is the Internet is in stark contrast with the monolithic and impenetrable data centres of today.

146

147

148

FROM TOOL TO INSTRUMENT What was once a utilitarian object, a mundane lighting tool, , the common street-lamp has become an instrument of control, allowing the mounting of sensors and surveillance to be conducted, symbolizing the larger change that is happening in a world where the Internet-of-Things have penetrated in all aspects of life.

149

A POLITICAL TOOL Mass Rapid Transport (MRT) trains have become opportunities to demonstrate Singaporeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s inclusiveness and technologically advanced systems. Efficiency and safety are held at the highest priority, with the implementation of SingPass authentication and scores to allow assignment of seats and standing positions, symbolising the extreme lengths of solutionism.

150

151

152

THE BUBBLE The physical manifestation of a personâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ideal world, beliefs and interest, shielding the individual from things that are not to his liking.

153

ALL OPTION

Singapore accomod and maternalistic o for all residents backgrounds.

154

FROM TOOL TO INSTRUMENT

NS AVAILABLE

dates all. Paternalistic options are available s from different

155

156

(PUBLIC) PARKS Singapore2075 speculates on a future whereby what was commonplace greenery is luxury, relegated to exclusivity within a capitalistic system that separates the “haves” from the “have-nots”. Parks have fallen under the management of private companies, due to its expensive and technically difficult operations within conservatories in an overheated tropical environment.

157

158

YOUR PHYSICAL SUBSTITUTE The presence of ubiquitous computing allows for the implementation of virtual assistants in 2020. The ProxyBot reverses the presence of the human and the assisstant. The ProxyBot is your channel to the physical society. One can now accomplish everything he needs done from the comfort of his own virtual set. With ProxyBot, its sensors are your senses, allowing you to be fully immerse in the physical environment through its advanced environment mapping. Our latest update includes a 3D scanned representation of you, allowing others to interact naturally and you to communicate effectively through both verbal and non-verbal cues. Advanced AI helps you interact with other entities (other ProxyBots or humans) without hassling you.

159

SURVEILLANC

Every movement, and pause. tracked of the, the accountability, the securit

160

CE CAPITALISM

d. Every decision logged. In the name ty and the reputation of Singapore.

161

162

LIVING SPACE A bathroom and a kitchen for your physical needs, and the Telepod for everything else, with the World at your doorstep. Why would we need anything more, when our entire life can be encompassed and integrated into a all powerful virtual â&#x20AC;&#x153;livingâ&#x20AC;? room?

163

THE DIGITAL PANOPTICON The Community Centres serve as both a digital public square, and the embodiment of control within Singapore2075. All actions and decisions can be collated, considered and monitored. Each individual is assigned into their own Telepod, their interactions monitored electronically, a future take of Benthamâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Panopticon.

164

165

166

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3 4

5 6

7 8

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ENDNOTES A Vision of Smarter Cities How Cities Can Lead the Way into a Prosperous and Sustainable Future IBM Global Business Services.; 2009. https://www-03.ibm.com/press/attachments/ IBV_Smarter_Cities_-_Final.pdf. 2018 Revision of World Urbanization Prospects | Multimedia Library - United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs. Un.org. https://population.un.org/wup/. Published 2018. Accessed August 4, 2020. Söderström O, Paasche T, Klauser F. Smart cities as corporate storytelling. City. 2014;18(3):307-320. doi:10.1080/13604813.20 14.906716 Keegan M. In China, Smart Cities or Surveillance Cities? US News & World Report. https://www.usnews.com/news/cities/ articles/2020-01-31/are-chinas-smart-cities-really-surveillancecities#:~:text=The%20commitment%20to%20smart%20 cities,Year%20Plan%20issued%20in%202011.&text=Essentially%2C%20City%20Brain%20is%20an,improve%20and%20 fix%20traffic%20problems. Published 2020. Accessed August 7, 2020. Kong L, Woods O. The ideological alignment of smart urbanism in Singapore: Critical reflections on a political paradox. Urban Studies. 2018;55(4):679-701. doi:10.1177/0042098017746528 Keegan M. In China, Smart Cities or Surveillance Cities? US News & World Report. https://www.usnews.com/news/cities/ articles/2020-01-31/are-chinas-smart-cities-really-surveillancecities. Published 2020. Accessed August 7, 2020. Datta A. Smartness Inc. openDemocracy. https://www. opendemocracy.net/en/openindia/smartness-inc/. Published May 22, 2015. Accessed April 31, 2020. COVID-19 Impact and Recovery Analysis- Smart City Market 2020-2024 | Increase In IT Consolidation and Modernization to Boost Growth | Technavio. Businesswire.com. https://www. businesswire.com/news/home/20200706005334/en/COVID19-Impact-Recovery-Analysis--Smart-City-Market. Published July 6, 2020. Accessed August 7, 2020. Steenson M. “Urban Nerve Centre” and Information Activity: Cedric Price’s Oxford Corner House Feasibility Study (1966). 99th ACSA Annual Meeting Proceedings, Where Do You Stand. March 2011:139. https://www.acsa-arch.org/chapter/ urban-nerve-centre-and-information-activity-cedric-pricesoxford-corner-house-feasibility-study-1966/. Accessed June 10, 2020. Onniboni L, Corino G. Modernism in Urban Planning - Mechanization or humanity? Archiobjects. https:// archiobjects.org/modernism-in-urban-planning-mechanizationor-humanity/#:~:text=Modernism in Urban Planning – Mechanization or humanity?&text=Modernism in Urban Planning opted,with the “Athens charter”. Published September 1, 2019. Accessed July 5, 2020. Gili Merin. “AD Classics: Ville Radieuse / Le Corbusier” 11 Aug 2013. ArchDaily. Accessed 14 Jun 2020. <https://www. archdaily.com/411878/ad-classics-ville-radieuse-le-corbusier/> ISSN 0719-8884 Hseuh-Bruni, Alessandro, “Le Corbusier’s Fatal Flaws – A Critique of Modernism”. The First-Year Papers (2010 - present) (2015). Trinity College Digital Repository, Hartford, CT. http:// digitalrepository.trincoll.edu/fypapers/59 Halpern O. Beautiful Data: a History of Vision and Reason since 1945. Durham: Duke Univ. Press; 2014. Buchegger C. Cybernetic Urbanism in the Smart City. June 2017:30. https://scripties.uba.uva.nl/download?fid=649952. Accessed February 17, 2020. Corbusier L, Etchells F. The City of Tomorrow and Its Planning. London: John Rocker; 1929.

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