Cyberpolis
An optimistic future for the digitization of cities.
We are at the beginning of a new technological era. An era that can cause a total automation of the living environments as we know them. The rapid development of multiple disruptive technologies will blur the boundaries between the physical, digital and biological worlds. A new layer of digital communication that is present everywhere and in which everything is connected; in which people communicate with people, people with…
Cyberpolis
An optimistic future for the digitization of cities.
We are at the beginning of a new technological era. An era that can cause a total automation of the living environments as we know them. The rapid development of multiple disruptive technologies will blur the boundaries between the physical, digital and biological worlds. A new layer of digital communication that is present everywhere and in which everything is connected; in which people communicate with people, people with objects, and objects with objects. The technologies will provide a completely new way of building, organizing and experiencing the city. It will radically change the city as we know it!
How digitization will take place and what the digital cities will look like, will depend on who is using the technology and their motivation of using it.
So what do we want our cities to look like in the future?
Lees meer
Cyberpolis is an urban prototype for a speculative digital city. This city is inspired by the social side of the digital world (online platforms). An open and accessible world, where users use technology to shape their own environment, by forming collectives, sharing content and discussing. The city as a social platform, made by and for the residents!
In Cyberpolis, the residents are in charge. They will experiment with the city and use digital technology to physically change the city according to their own wishes. This makes it a city that rebels against current smart city concepts to make cities smarter, more efficient and more generic. It focuses on collective expression, spontaneity and local identity.
The Cyberpolitans
The inhabitants of this cyber city are called the Cyberpolitans. They are all creative, actively participating residents and the existing city is their playground. If you want to become a Cyberpolitan, you must register on the Cyberpolis platform. The user profile is your digital identity and acts as a passport for the cyber city. The platform offers every user the opportunity to join collectives (digital communities) that are each linked to and responsible for their own part of the cityscape.
Tabula scripta
Cyberpolis is not a new city on a new location. It is a new way of city making and developing within the existing city. It builds on a tradition of collective and bottom-up initiatives that residents use to appropriate the city. That is why this way of developing is not imposed, but always at the initiative of the collective. It happens at existing local places where the social networks and structures are strong and vital. These locations are scattered throughout the city and are appropriated by collectives or digital communities who determine how their piece of cityscape works and what it will look like.
A city without architects. Or…
A city where everyone can be an architect!
In a future where digital communication is so self-evident that it can be regarded as a second language, it is possible for everyone to use and deploy this technology themselves to design and build architectural typologies for the city. Technology as a toolkit for the city. This means that architects will be superfluous. Anyone in Cyberpolis can be an architect themselves.
When digital communities as collectives will determine what their part of the city will look like, how it is organized and how it is experienced, the city as we know it will radically change. The city becomes more spontaneous, more local, more expressive. It is a digital city made for and by its residents.
