Title:
Smart cities : big data, civic hackers, and the quest for a new utopia
Author:
Townsend, Anthony M., 1973-
ISBN:
9780393082876
Personal Author:
Edition:
First edition.
Physical Description:
xiv, 384 pages ; 25 cm
Contents:
The $100 billion jackpot -- Cybernetics redux -- Cities of tomorrow -- The open-source metropolis -- Tinkering toward utopia -- Have nots -- Reinventing city hall -- A planet of civic laboratories -- Buggy, brittle, and bugged -- A new civics for a smart century.
Abstract:
We live in a world defined by urbanization and digital ubiquity, where mobile broadband connections outnumber fixed ones, machines dominate a new "internet of things," and more people live in cities than in the countryside. In Smart Cities, urbanist and technology expert Anthony Townsend takes a broad historical look at the forces that have shaped the planning and design of cities and information technologies from the rise of the great industrial cities of the nineteenth century to the present. A century ago, the telegraph and the mechanical tabulator were used to tame cities of millions. Today, cellular networks and cloud computing tie together the complex choreography of mega-regions of tens of millions of people.
In response, cities worldwide are deploying technology to address both the timeless challenges of government and the mounting problems posed by human settlements of previously unimaginable size and complexity. In Chicago, GPS sensors on snow plows feed a real-time "plow tracker" map that everyone can access. In Zaragoza, Spain, a "citizen card" can get you on the free city-wide Wi-Fi network, unlock a bike share, check a book out of the library, and pay for your bus ride home. In New York, a guerrilla group of citizen-scientists installed sensors in local sewers to alert you when stormwater runoff overwhelms the system, dumping waste into local waterways.
As technology barons, entrepreneurs, mayors, and an emerging vanguard of civic hackers are trying to shape this new frontier, Smart Cities considers the motivations, aspirations, and shortcomings of them all while offering a new civics to guide our efforts as we build the future together, one click at a time. -- Provided by publisher.
| Preface | p. xi |
| Introduction: Urbanization and Ubiquity | p. 1 |
| 1 The $100 Billion Jackpot | p. 19 |
| 2 Cybernetics Redux | p. 57 |
| 3 Cities of Tomorrow | p. 93 |
| 4 The Open-Source Metropolis | p. 115 |
| 5 Tinkering Toward Utopia | p. 142 |
| 6 Have Nots | p. 168 |
| 7 Reinventing City Hall | p. 194 |
| 8 A Planet of Civic Laboratories | p. 226 |
| 9 Buggy, Brittle, and Bugged | p. 252 |
| 10 A New Civics for a Smart Century | p. 282 |
| Acknowledgments | p. 321 |
| Notes | p. 325 |
| Index | p. 367 |
Preface p.xi
Introduction: Urbanization and Ubiquity p. 1
1 The $100 Billion Jackpot p. 19
2 Cybernetics Redux p. 57
3 Cities of Tomorrow p. 93
4 The Open-Source Metropolis p. 115
5 Tinkering Toward Utopia p. 142
6 Have Nots p. 168
7 Reinventing City Hall p. 194
8 A Planet of Civic Laboratories p. 226
9 Buggy, Brittle, and Bugged p. 252
10 A New Civics for a Smart Century p. 282
Acknowledgments p. 321
Notes p. 325
Index p. 367
Booklist Review
Everyone these days is familiar with smartphones and smart homes (even if most can't afford the latter), but how many people are familiar with smart cities? While there is no master controller at least not yet who manipulates apps that keep a city running, increasingly such things as traffic patterns, sewage flow, and street lighting are all being guided by sophisticated software. In this far-reaching overview of all the ways computer technology is transforming life for today's metropolitan dwellers, urban planning specialist Townsend takes a look at how modern cities around the world are upgrading their infrastructure for the Internet age. From New York to Beijing, city mayors are partnering with organizations like Siemens and IBM to strengthen networks, communications, and crisis-intervention tools such as monitoring flu outbreaks. Although the omnipresent surveillance that accompanies this interconnectivity may make some readers nervous, Townsend persuasively demonstrates how ubiquitous information resources can provide more protection, as it did in the Boston marathon bombing case, and facilitate a more comfortable, less stress-inducing city-living experience.--Hays, Carl Copyright 2010 Booklist
Publisher's Weekly Review
Technology forecaster Townsend defines a "smart city" as an urban environment "where information technology is combined with infrastructure, architecture, everyday objects, and even our bodies to address social, economic, and environmental problems." They're already being made, usually piecemeal but sometimes wholesale (as in planned automated cities like South Korea and Cisco's somewhat ill-fated Songdo), and involve refashioning old systems like the electricity grid as well as deploying the latest infrastructure-such as the network of radio waves operating our wireless gadgets-and much more. Of interest to urban planners and designers, tech leaders, and entrepreneurs, Townsend's globe-hopping study examines the trend toward smart cities while addressing pros and cons, as top-down corporate models develop alongside communitarian and entrepreneurial initiatives. Skeptical of the vision and influence of tech giants, Townsend points to smaller stories in making the case that local ingenuity should lead the way, albeit in concert with the corporate innovation and power. The author's perspective is based partly on direct experience (among other things, he was an organizer, in 2002, of NYCwireless, an open-source group distributing free Wi-Fi access in Manhattan). The autobiographical passages and close readings of other scrappy innovators are the most enjoyable part of this impressive survey, which tries to secure democratic impulses amid a new gold rush. Agent: Zoe Pagnamenta, Zoe Pagnamenta Agency. (Oct.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Choice Review
A positive presentation of the rapidly digitizing urban fabric is what Townsend offers here. Largely geared toward a general audience, the book's tone throughout is colloquial rather than academic. There is much to dissect, as Townsend is well versed in both current and passe technological trends, evidenced by the barrage of references to various gadgets, programs, and networks. Ultimately, his portrayal of the positive potential of technology and the corporations that produce them is fairly one-sided. Complex issues like the Arab Spring and the digital divide (Townsend prefers the term digital dilemmas), which are given rather scant treatment, are treated almost as filler. While there are a handful of references to a few luminary urban thinkers such as Jane Jacobs and Lewis Mumford, Townsend does not acknowledge the texts or ideas of several other well-known urban thinkers. For example, a careful integration of the works of Manuel Castells, David Harvey, and Henri Lefebvre would have done wonders for this book, though such integration would have severely altered its makeup. Overall, this book provides a synthesis of hot topics, but a nuanced critique of these topics is sorely missing. Summing Up: Recommended. Public libraries, general collections. P. Gamsby Brandeis University
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