Digital urban development - How large digital corporations shape the field of urban governance (DIGI-GOV)

Report (2021)

DIGI-GOV is a research project that aims to understand (I) the role of large digital corporations (LDCs) in digital urbandevelopment, (II) how the presence of LDCs in urban planning practice challenge pre ... [more ▼]

DIGI-GOV is a research project that aims to understand (I) the role of large digital corporations (LDCs) in digital urbandevelopment, (II) how the presence of LDCs in urban planning practice challenge pre-existing modes urban governance, and (III) how LDC-led urban development constitutes a new relational geography of digital cities. DIGI-GOV is thus a chance to call attention to this critical shift in the ways that contemporary digital cities are constructed, planned, mediated and governed. DIGI-GOV expands on prior research that examined Alphabet Inc.’s digital city project in Toronto that raised a number of important issues forurban planners, development practitioners, and urban studies scholars – even if this particular digital city project was ultimately unsuccessful. DIGI-GOV expands this research because the range of services that LDCs provide has increased in both volume and centrality; more and more public and private institutions rely on LDCs for essential digital infrastructures. There is an urgent need to study the trajectories of urbanization that are rolled out under the leadership of LDCs and the tensions in urban governance that are unleashed. DIGI-GOV will shed light on four further cities in addition to Toronto, which have been challenged by the presence of LDCs—namely, Seattle, Washington D.C, Bissen, and Eemshaven. The selected cities are some of the few exemplary cases available where LDCs have secured their position in the local urban field. Through qualitative methodological approaches, DIGI-GOV will tease out how these cities are relationally connected through LDC-led urban development, and what scholars and practitioners can learn from these experiences. Examined together, one can scratch at the surface of, and unearth, this new emerging relational geography. [less ▲]

Mobility policy through the lens of policy mobility: The post-political case of introducing free transit in Luxembourg

in Journal of Transport Geography (2020), 83

This viewpoint paper addresses the issue of fare-free public transport (FFPT) in the context of policy mobility, the strand of urban studies literature that examines how policy formulations developed in ... [more ▼]

This viewpoint paper addresses the issue of fare-free public transport (FFPT) in the context of policy mobility, the strand of urban studies literature that examines how policy formulations developed in one place tend to ‘travel’ and inform and inspire plans elsewhere as good or best practices. We argue that the promotion of policies may not reflect a serious attempt to solve a sustainability or socio-economic issue. Rather, the institutions in charge have different targets in mind. FFPT in Luxembourg is thus more a reflection of a post-political process where politics are severed from the political. [less ▲]

Just because they say it is sustainable development, it does not mean that it is: Sustainable development as a master-signifier in Swiss urban and regional planning

E-print/Working paper (2020)

With stunning green landscapes, exemplary public transport, and picturesque walkable cities, Switzerland often occupies the public imaginary of a place that has tackled sustainable development. This ... [more ▼]

With stunning green landscapes, exemplary public transport, and picturesque walkable cities, Switzerland often occupies the public imaginary of a place that has tackled sustainable development. This research, however, looks under the hood and finds that this development path supports not only modes of capital accumulation, but also certain less sustainable patterns of development and governance. This paper examines this apparent paradox by looking at the role of sustainable development as a master-signifier in Swiss urban development processes. Empirical observations were made in the Glatt Valley of Switzerland, where governing officials of small municipalities are confronted with coordinating urban development under growth pressure within cantonal and federal policy frameworks that claim sustainable development. It can be seen that sustainable development is an empty master-signifier that policy makers engage to justify the quilting of a certain hegemonic discourses of power that reflect in further uneven urban development. By reproducing business as usual market-led urban growth, fragmentation is maintained as are social spatial disparities are entrenched. [less ▲]

Luxembourg’s free public transport sounds great, but it won’t help people get from A to B

Article for general public (2019)

The apolitical aims of digital urban development: Following Alphabet Inc.'s waterfront development in Toronto.

Presentation (2019)

Luxembourg’s free public transport sounds great. It isn't

Article for general public (2019)

This is a reproduction of Carr/Hesse's 2019 "Luxembourg’s free public transport sounds great, but it won’t help people get from A to B" published Jan 16, 2019, in The Conversation. Available at:https ... [more ▼]

This is a reproduction of Carr/Hesse's 2019 "Luxembourg’s free public transport sounds great, but it won’t help people get from A to B" published Jan 16, 2019, in The Conversation. Available at:https://theconversation.com/luxembourgs-free-public-transport-sounds-great-but-it-wont-help-people-get-from-a-to-b-109695 [less ▲]

Some notes on smart cities and the corporatization of urban governance

Presentation (2019)

Smart Cities: Selbstzweck oder zum Wohl der Städte?

Article for general public (2019)

Die Idee der intelligenten Stadt – „Smart City“ – hat in den letzten Jahren unsere Fantasie beflügelt. Viele glauben, dass hier die Zukunft der Stadt liege. Die digitale Optimierung von Gebäuden ... [more ▼]

Die Idee der intelligenten Stadt – „Smart City“ – hat in den letzten Jahren unsere Fantasie beflügelt. Viele glauben, dass hier die Zukunft der Stadt liege. Die digitale Optimierung von Gebäuden, Kommunikations- und Verkehrsinfrastruktur begeistert Politiker, Wirtschaftsführer und die breite Öffentlichkeit. Alle wollen smart sein – ohne dass man jeweils wüsste, was genau eine Smart City ist. Von Constance Carr* Dies hat einen gewissen Wettlauf der Innovationen ausgelöst, wobei die Entwicklungsgeschwindigkeit ein solches Tempo erreicht hat, dass der Appetit der Technologieindustrie und der Städte, hier mitzuspielen, unersättlich erscheint. Die Digitalisierung ist insofern ein wichtiger Aspekt der Stadtentwicklungspolitik weltweit. Luxemburg bildet hier keine Ausnahme und strebt eine führende Position in der digitalen Entwicklung an. [less ▲]

Introducing Luxembourg: Ephemeral Sustainabilities

in Krueger, Rob; Freytag, Tim; Mössner, Samuel (Eds.) Adventures in Sustainable Urbanism (2019)

Table of Contents 1. Constructing Sustainable Development Robert Krueger, Tim Freytag and Samuel Mossner 2. The Rise of Sustainable Urban Development Robert Krueger, Tim Freytag, and Samuel Mossner 3. A ... [more ▼]

Table of Contents 1. Constructing Sustainable Development Robert Krueger, Tim Freytag and Samuel Mossner 2. The Rise of Sustainable Urban Development Robert Krueger, Tim Freytag, and Samuel Mossner 3. A Tale of Two Cities: Christchurch, New Zealand, and Sustainable Urban Disaster Recovery Tim Baird and C. Michael Hall 4. Reworking Newtown Creek Winifred Curran and Trina Hamilton 5. From Sprawling Cowtown to Social Sustainability Pioneer: The Sustainability Journey of Calgary, Alberta Freya Kristensen 6. The Greenest City Experience: Exploring Social Action and Social Sustainability in Vancouver, Canada Marit Rosol and Cristina Temenos 7. Introducing Luxembourg: Ephemeral Sustainabilities Constance Carr 8. Montpellier Écocité: From Growth Machine to Sustainability? David Giband 9. Building Ecopolis in the World’s Factory: A Field Note on Sino-Singapore Tianjin Eco-city I-Chun Catherine Chang 10. Sustainable Empire? Michal Kohout 11. Middle-Class Family Enclavism and Solidarity from a Distance Notes from a Field of Contradictions in Dortmund, Germany Susanne Frank 12. A Conclusion? Or, Toward a New Beginning? Robert Krueger, Tim Freytag, and Samuel Mossner [less ▲]

Smart cities and risk: When digital urban development gets political

Presentation (2019)