Upcoming Events

Orit Halpern, Concordia University
Jesse LeCavalier, Daniels
Jesse Shapins, Sidewalk Labs
Michael Sorkin, Michael Sorkin Studio
–moderator, Richard Sommer, Daniels

The concept of the smart city has become ubiquitous in contemporary agendas related to urban planning, governance, and design, and within technological industries wishing to plan, build, and manage cities on a global scale. Yet despite its widespread use, the concept remains fuzzy in definition, changing depending on the disciplinary, ideological, and geopolitical context in which it is being used. In both the theories and emerging practices that are propelling the development of a smart urbanism, there is an unresolved tension between the newer, faster, digital, data-driven, “soft” economies and technologies transforming communication and social life, and the more established, and slower, hardware that characterizes the construction of the built environment. Against this background, and with a specific focus on the implications of “intelligent” technologies for architecture and urban design, Urban IQ Test will take a deep dive into some of the contemporary rhetorics, histories and politics of the smart city phenomenon.

This event is part of the Home and Away lecture series at the Daniels Faculty.