Space matters: the relational power of mobile technologies

Odendaal, Nancy

doi:10.7213/urbe.06.001.se02

Cited by 7 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 7 publications

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“…Spatial constraints do not simply disappear with broadened technology access but co-exist with cyber-space in a hybrid form (Graham, 2008) that is more relational than Cartesian (Odendaal, 2014). Some places remain isolated and under-serviced; what new technologies offer is access to networked spaces that connect.…”

Section: Contemporary Urbanism and The Smart Citymentioning

confidence: 99%

Everyday urbanisms and the importance of place: Exploring the elements of the emancipatory smart city

Odendaal

2020

Urban Studies

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Two of the most striking features of smart city discourses are the centrality of technology as a driver of transformational change and the strange ‘placelessness’ of its visual narrative. Whether envisaged in Kenya or Singapore, the commercial smart city is represented as a ‘city in a box’, seemingly capable of solving complex social issues through algorithms and technical innovation. Recently a robust literature has emerged that is critical of the techno-determinism inherent in smart city discussions. This paper expands on this critique by arguing that by solely focusing on the material dimensions of technologically informed urban change, devoid of context, we miss an opportunity to uncover an important moment in contemporary urbanity. By foregrounding the human dimensions of technology appropriation and the interface with livelihoods in their particular spatial contexts, this paper consciously decentres the dominant smart city discourse by arguing for the foregrounding of local dynamics. This paper rejects the universalisms embedded in smart city promises and argues that by provincialising the idea of smart urbanism, opportunities are presented for understanding the true markers of contemporary urbanism. Critical debates on the smart city, and by extension the need to consider smart urbanism contextually and as an infrastructure, relationally, together with the conceptual insights provided by postcolonial science and technology studies, contribute to a proposed frame for researching the ongoing dynamic between contemporary urban life and technological innovation. Empirical vignettes from urban Africa are used to illustrate the multiple dimensions of the interface between livelihoods and technology appropriation.

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Section: Contemporary Urbanism and The Smart Citymentioning

confidence: 99%

Everyday urbanisms and the importance of place: Exploring the elements of the emancipatory smart city

Odendaal

2020

Urban Studies

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“…The third feature I would like to reflect on is the hybrid nature of the pandemic response. The relationship between the digital and material is hybrid, and often described as continuously interconnected and co-constituted (Kitchin & Dodge, 2011;Leszczynski, 2019;Zook & Graham, 2007;Odendaal 2014). The contextual depth afforded by situated approach reveals how urban life is sometimes "rigged together from whatever is at hand" (Simone 2011: 356) and then reassembled into a socio-technical configuration that brings with it new (or renewal of old) spatial manifestations.…”

Section: Recombination and Community Mobilisation: Three Themesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Recombining Place

Odendaal

2021

International Journal of E-Planning Research

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The lockdown response taken by many governments in flattening the curve of coronavirus infections has of course increased the reliance on digital tools to enable work (for those able to do so) and social interaction. There are emergent, somewhat contingent, and coproductive dynamics at work between platforms and urban life and space with the contextual specificities of each, no doubt, leading to different ICT-informed solutions. In South Africa, the state has taken a phased but stronghold approach with unfortunate impacts on livelihoods and food security, especially those in the informal economy and those with part-time or insecure employment. The community action network (CAN) initiative started as a means to enable neighbourhood assistance through WhatsApp groups in Cape Town. In this article, the author reflects on how this initiative reflects the early hopes of William Mitchell (and others) that saw the potential for informational spaces to become more democratic as interfaces of connection. In Cape Town, one may see Mitchell's vision fulfilled.

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“…The discourse on ICT-driven urbanism in Southern cities has undergone significant evolution over the last decade (Odendaal, 2014). Following the increased penetration of ICTs and the spiraling of vast top-down large-scale projects by public and private institutions in the larger cities, focus has begun to shift with studies exploring these new urban formations in the global South (Datta, 2015;Odendaal, 2011;Watson, 2014).…”

Section: Studying Ict-driven Urbanism In Southern Citiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Smart city making? The spread of ICT-driven plans and infrastructures in Nairobi

Guma

Monstadt

2020

Urban Geography

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Since the late 2000s, the city of Nairobi in Kenya has become a focal point of large-scale and ambitious technology-driven city making processes and ambitions. In this study, we draw upon observations, interviews, and policy analysis to examine processes of city making and the spread of ICT-driven infrastructures, juxtaposing ambitious visions of emergent plans with ordinary realities of the African city. We demonstrate that while processes of smart city making have strongly been inclined toward technocratic approaches and deterministic appeals, this inclination is highly deceptive. We argue that rather than being deterministic, these processes are essentially politicized, highly contested, and shaped by the role and impact of local practices and context-specific realities. In making this argument, we draw from a social studies of technology perspective which engages with the notion of technological determinism to make this contribution to the academic field of critical urbanism.

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Space matters: the relational power of mobile technologies

Cited by 7 publications

References 7 publications

Everyday urbanisms and the importance of place: Exploring the elements of the emancipatory smart city

Everyday urbanisms and the importance of place: Exploring the elements of the emancipatory smart city

Recombining Place

Smart city making? The spread of ICT-driven plans and infrastructures in Nairobi

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