Mohsen Mostafavi
Until a few years ago, all the buzz of future urbanization was about the concept of the smart city—except no one knew what that was, let alone how to make it happen. Slogans can be useful as long as some form of result matches their power as a message; otherwise, they become just another unrealized promise. Together with their crucial symbolic role, that significant capacity explains their utility for politicians across the globe—until of course, people stop believing in their promises. In any case, in its most promising version, the smart city turned out to be mainly a data-driven urban management tool with the primary goal of a more efficient mobility system. Not a bad idea at all, if only its many promoters had made a genuine commitment to its many possibilities. The conversation has now moved on and more people seem interested and intrigued by the potential of artificial intelligence (AI) as a game changer in the coming years. But again, most of the emphasis as far as the built environment is concerned seems to be placed on its operational capabilities and utility. Yet perhaps the promise of these tools is rather in how AI might help us imagine, design, and construct new environments that can best reflect the desires, needs, and values of a society. Such challenges in the relationality between design and AI are the primary goals of the latest research studio conducted at the Harvard University Graduate School of Design with support from our collaborators at AECOM Asia Pacific. The location of our research for this project is the city of Shenzhen in China. Shenzhen’s geographical position and proximity to Hong Kong, and its history of rapid growth and transformation as
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How can AI Shape the City?
