With digital designer and urbanist, Dan Hill

Part of the lecture series between between UCL Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose (IIPP) and the British Library on Rethinking Public Value and Public Purpose in 21st Century Capitalism. Dan Hill discusses our cities, paused in front of several different alternative futures. How do we re-appropriate new tools and technologies in a way that reinforces the idea of the city as a public good, not a mere collision of private ones?

This event has taken place, but you can watch a film of it below.

Our cities are paused in front of several different alternative futures. One we might describe as ‘business as usual’, which is actually a slow, unthinking drift from 20th century systems into those of shaped by 21st century ‘big tech', in which we are unprepared, ill-advised and increasingly subjugated by individualising technologies applied at urban scale. 

The other city we might describe as full of the possibilities of similar-looking but actually quite different 'networked urbanism', engaged with consciously, deliberately and working with the dynamics of contemporary systems for civic and public outcomes. It implies a quite different form of city-making, enabled by a convergence of contemporary approaches such as building fabrication, robotics for maintenance and construction, autonomous mobility and logistics systems, shared super-local energy systems, advanced manufacturing and AI, super-green safe streets and truly shared living spaces, all calibrated by carefully redesigned decision-making cultures. This is where the real invention is required, the true design agenda: how do we re-appropriate these technologies in a way that reinforces the idea of the city as a public good, not a mere collision of private ones? 

This richly illustrated talk will describe a diverse array of projects, techniques and approaches from projects and practices all over the world.

This event is free, advance booking is required.

In association with the UCL Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose

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