Cities as implements or facilities – The need for a spatial morphology in smart city systems

Abstract

In light of the urgent threats presented by climate change and rapid urbanisation, interest in ‘smart city systems’ is mounting. In contrast to scholarship that poses ‘smartness’ as something that needs to be added to cities, recent developments in spatial morphology research pursue a view of the built fabric of cities as an extension of the cognitive human apparatus, as well as a material formulation of social, cultural and economic relations and processes. The built fabric of cities needs to be understood as a highly intelligent artefact in itself, rather than simple, dead matter. The current focus on high-tech systems risks concealing the fact that the machine is already there. In contrast to the technological ‘implements’ of smart city systems, this article looks at cities as ‘facilities’ – that is, as technologies that slow down, store and maintain energy as a resource for a variety of purposes. The article builds on space syntax research in order to give precision to the understanding of the affordances the cities offer their various processes and the ways in which cities operate as information storage and retrieval devices for individuals and for society. The city must be considered, we argue, in terms of a range of tangled, interdependent systems, reaching from individual buildings to the whole city, an understanding anchored in notions of ‘diversity’ and ‘density’ (recently gathered under the concept of ‘spatial capital’) and in research addressing how the distribution of space and artefacts serve as means of knowledge communication (specifically, in complex buildings such as libraries and department stores). In conclusion, we argue that existing discussions on ‘smart city systems’ would benefit acknowledgement of the role of cities as facilities.

Applying a Systems Perspective on the Notion of the Smart City

“…Hence, we see how the street network constitutes a form of technology, albeit low-tech, with traits that we tend to associate with resilience of cities. The built fabric of cities possesses these attractive traits because each generation has both adjusted it and added to it in accordance with their experiences and needs, making it a sophisticated matter replete with knowledge and accumulated experience [11,38]. We therefore argue that while there may be reason to make use of new digital technology in our cities, that we may call smart, it should not be uncritically introduced in ways that risk conflict with such older generic technologies.…”

“…In urban design, current tendencies to prioritize high tech-solutions often occur at the expense of low-tech functionalities that are traditionally "built into" the physical landscape, e.g., water irrigation, air ventilation and the support for human navigation [11]. Naturally, the aim of high tech-solutions is not to counteract low-tech ones, but to increase precision and efficiency.…”

“…The flow and use of these resources are regulated by a combination of ecological and social systems [10], where the social systems also include the technical systems. We also conceive of "smartness" as something that is being added to cities via the application of some form of digital technology [11].…”

UIOT-FMT: A Universal Format for Collection and Aggregation of Data from Smart Devices

“…Most cities were built with an established ruleset in mind [ 23 ], which facilitates how its areas are arranged, connected and divided, how buildings are structured and placed within each zone and so on. However, the buildings and facility that are built within each of the cities do differ to a reasonable extent.…”

UIOT-FMT: A Universal Format for Collection and Aggregation of Data from Smart Devices

“…Most cities were built with an established ruleset in mind [16], which facilitates how its areas are arranged, connected and divided, how buildings are structured and placed within each zone and so do have a plethora of elements in common, which is to be believed to emerge within every city, due to its necessity by its inhabitants. These elements are expected to be present within every city as a means to serve a demand by its residents or commuters.…”