SMART CITY ABC MANU LUKSCH

SMART CITY ABC aims to decode a topic that has produced a specialist vocabulary, in order to promote accessibility to the debate. The vision of the « Smart City » was introduced by some of the largest tech corporations to address population growth, political instability and resource scarcity.

To some, the use of « big data » collected from smart phones, security cameras, city rapid transit networks and personal health trackers signify a means for total surveillance, whereas for others: a techno-utopia. Either way this information can be monitored, extracted and traded to forecast future patterns within our urban landscape- revealing a necessity for a « Connected City ». With the proliferation of networked sensors and distributed processing- often called the « Internet of Things »- comes the possibility of a fully embedded information infrastructure; a city operating system.

This glossary-in-progress aims to illuminate terminology that is by its very nature difficult to define. « Smart City », the « Internet of Things », « Big Data »- these buzzwords stem from a notion of an imminent future where management is algorithmic, efficient and error-free. In order to assess how we can participate in the shaping of our public spaces, we must engage with this language of evolving terminology.

Manu Luksch is filmmaker and artist who interrogates conceptions of progress and scrutinises the effects of network technologies on social relations, urban space, and political structures. Works are shown at venues and festivals internationally and Luksch was awarded the ELEVATE prize 2015, Austrian Media Arts Prize 2012 and Marianne.von.Willemer Prize for Digital Arts 2012 (Ars Electronica Centre & City of Linz).
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