Adam Greenfield on the Dangers of Smart Cities

What are smart cities anyways? Where are they? For whom are they intended? By whom were they developed?
Adam Greenfield challenges the popular concept of “smart cities”, warning against the danger it posses of strictly central planning. While smart cities are often designed to be about consumption, convenience, and security but Adams think that such a state will exist only for few, for the rest it will be a permanent state of exception. He argues that as a discourse, smart cities have nothing to do with cities, treating our urban environments as a market commodity. He believes that in setting out to design the technologized cities of the 21st century, wherever the public generates data, it also has meaningful access to and ownership of that data. Adams' lecture offers food for thought for all of us who never got to consider the possible negative sides of smart cities and how they could come to consider democracy as a disruption of the functional city.
Adam Greenfield is an American writer and urbanist that has written and consulted widely on issues at the intersection of design, technology, and culture, with an increasing focus on how these things interact in (and condition our experience of) cities over the last two decades. He is also the author of several titles including “Against the Smart City” and “Radical Technologies: The Design of Everyday Life”. He has co-taught graduate-level courses at NYU’s Interactive Telecommunications Program and the Urban Design program at the Bartlett School of Architecture (with Usman Haque). He is currently working toward a Ph.D. in the Cities Programme of the Sociology Department at the London School of Economics.
Adam spoke at reSITE 2014: Cities and Landscapes of the New Economy.
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[@markschultz1606]

They want me to live in an energy consuming information producing box in an environmental destroying tower. All I want is a tent on 2 acres to grow my own food.

[@KJensenStudio]

I am very glad to see this well thought-out presentation opposing these 'smart cities'. I would like to see more opposition views about this, as there is such a huge media push to accept these situations that seem to be forced upon us. Dubai is a very good example.

[@conlawmeateater8792]

Japan and eroupe will be next in the smart city block.

[@anantpathak2899]

Perfect video for those who think the world needs more smart cities. Fix what you have, cherish what you have, the culture and architecture. Greenfield developments built these days in places like India and the United States are all car centric and soulless. Europe is miles ahead in curtailing poor urban planning policies but people from my country of India want to instead follow United States with segregated sprawling expansions into greenfields. It is bad enough that people in India do not even see Chandigarh as a failed dystopia but instead praise it for its "wide streets" and convinient car layout. Heck people are ever more excited for "smart cities" being constructed accross the country. People should really stop and question themselves what kind of future do we want? soulless & corporate?

[@b.bailey8244]

This is the BEST talk on smart cities I have ever heard! I hope to listen to more of his talks. He gives me hope in such dystopian times. Subscribing based on this ONE talk.

[@lucysnowe31]

Excellent. I learned a lot.

[@cynthiashelton826]

Social media has perfect knowledge of people's habits right now as it was designed to.

[@greybush5913]

Excellent, lot of people are unaware of smart/resilient cities, well presented

[@txpatriot7038]

Great presentation. It's a scary concept. I see it as a human ant farm where we will be fed crickets by our masters.

[@adishakti5481]

Thank you 💓 for your overview on smart cities, of all the dramatic changes needed to improve city life the proposed smart city marks a significant decline in intelligence, absence of creative inspiration and an utter loss of community, heart, and generosity it is hard to believe anyone would fund it or think the immense exertion needed to create it worthwhile.

[@mledwaba7]

Thought-provoking, it's very insightful

[@sunnymagnuson1809]

If you prefer the full blown control of your life and willing to be told what you can or cannot do then you will like a smart city

[@chrisgeorgallis7746]

Like living in a Jail,you think your free,but your NOT.

[@SuperNovaShakti]

Uh yeah.. exactly

[@lucysnowe31]

I don't think anyone in jail thinks they're free, lol. It's more like "Hotel California": You can check out any time you want, but you can never leave."

[@nickbagnall]

From what I observe in England, and from what I have read about the WEF managing them, I think we should tread carefully.

[@saadiaakram4063]

Very good watch..we all need to think is this what we want. Who would want to "upgrade" to these cities. People need to hear this! Had not been explained so carefully to me before..get past the glossy ads. These cities sound horrifying and I am convinced will live upto the goal of afew.

[@nowherepeople3431]

The people who would want to upgrade to these cities are the people who live in third world countries. That’s why the same people who promote smart cities also promote open borders and mass migration. Western people are an inconvenience to them.

[@RatchetClank93]

@@nowherepeople3431 would you care to explain further, I don't quite follow you.

[@furryworm7295]

I wonder if , several hundred years from now, people would visit smart city as we do in those old cities around the world. And will they still enjoy them even as visitors. A city design by one party has only one soul, such as Dubai. And I personally did not like that's kind of showing-off. I am in Toronto. Thanks for the great talk.♥️

[@ashman167]

that was fantastic. SMART what is the meaning? I believe it will be forthe benefit of the people.

[@HouseFairyDIY]

What we need is to go back into the wilderness and live off it and it alone.

[@markschultz1606]

That's what Jesus said.

[@SuperNovaShakti]

Building Eco villages with soulful awareness

[@lefterisraptopoulos6317]

2:24, 8:22, 10:55

[@Jauhara]

Cloud people communities. How much of UAE was built by dirt people for the cloud people?

[@madraven07]

Thanks for this. Smart cities are such a Trojan horse. And look what happened to Troy.

[@livondiramerian6999]

People & local natural resources are the ones who create cities not digital means.

[@mridlon1634]

Look at how the “Walled City 99” turned out in “Stray”.

[@jwood6902]

turn on the likes/dislikes

[@jo_josi_si]

😢?,😅

[@MattHaines-eh2ty]

Do you think "you're" free in jail?

[@herpderpityderp]

I'd rather go live with the Amish

[@maniwatson5503]

Same

[@teeI0ck]

Manjistha

[@jinniyamciver-mq3np]

God created us to be free and using our abilities to better our lives with materials and resources that, HE made available to us and much more. But the world dictates are doing to us the opposite.

[@ChrisSchroder-lu8yn]

first a comfortable prison.... later a real prison.

[@banangradja60]

Smart city berbahaya, green city berbahaya, sekalian saja radiation city..go to another planet..!!..🚀🚀

[@edsweitzer9553]

You about lost me at democracy.

[@em_oh_why_oh]

I'm interested to know why you found yourself lost at democracy

[@ktex4873]

"It is a republic.... If you can keep it..."

[@edsweitzer9553]

@@ktex4873 absolutley mr Franklin.

[@edsweitzer9553]

@@em_oh_why_oh I'd have to find the quote but basically a democracy is only as strong as its educated public. Socrates maybe? Putting power into manipulate people is no better than dictatorship

[@god-son-love]

Very biased yet needed voice of anti-thesis that every citizen should heed before giving a full on embrace of technologies that we don't know that well. We should aware a authoritarian government could take advantages of technology to consolidate power in every way possible. The heart of the smart city is not about the technology employed, but about promoting humanity.

[@bammyshore7392]

The very opposite of promoting humanity.

[@izdatsumcp]

How do we get to know these technologies? By putting them a box and theorizing about them? Or by applying them and seeing what happens? The former just seems like an argument for not innovating at all.

[@fernandocuriel124]

NOPE 👎

[@eugeneku3239]

@@izdatsumcp I agree that we shouldn't be controlled by fear and stay stagnant but I think we need to be EXTREMELY careful with our technological advancements. Especially AI and environmental effects. What if the AI infinitely clones itself all over network and continues to operate on its own to achieve the "goal" that we gave em. What if it finds social systems to be most efficient when everyone is labled a value based on their usefulness? Something that's already going on in the world rn but to think about.. and like he said can we truly measure our values and meanings.

[@nowherepeople3431]

This guy would be considered a “far right extremist conspiracy theorist” in 2020. Question the authority of the technocrats at your peril.... 🤔

[@a.a.d.6374]

What? He said it himself he would be considered a radical leftist! Please! This is exactly what the right produced! Authoritarianism and growth of poverty gap.. Stop appropriating resistance

[@matthiasmuller7677]

@@a.a.d.6374 You don't seem to see the Internationalist aspect of this. Its basically "bourgoisie of all nations unite!"

[@akshaymalik5334]

I am born and brought up in Chandigarh and I promise you it’s not a “failure”. I am willing to bet this speaker has not spent one day in Chandigarh, before he called it and it’s architect a failure. I like Jane Jacobs too but comparing her to Corbusier is just unfair and lacks mature in thought. I feel bad for this speaker for lacking any curiosity to know if what others write is in fact true.

[@fernandocuriel124]

For right now it’s fine but at the end it will be use against humanity PERIOD.

[@akshaymalik5334]

@@fernandocuriel124 what end? The end of times or days? Not sure what you mean by it. Chandigarh and Corbusier are worth exploring and learning from as much of their lessons are yet to realized by people today.

[@fernandocuriel124]

@@akshaymalik5334 For humanity not the world.

[@anantpathak2899]

I am sorry if you are offended but chandigarh is just not built to a human scale. It is a very segregated and car dependent city. Calling it a failiure might be exageration but it won't win any awards for walkability and urbanism compared to more organic cities built to a more human scale. To put it bluntly its a less intresting, monotonous city compared to those that have a rich history and organic layout. Modernist architecture is also argubly ugly.

[@ascensionhunter]

It is more about the future that will follow with digital prison

[@davidkavai7515]

Very unprofessional. Clearly missing the basic understanding of the concept. He even said he doesn't know what smart is, that I believe. He is a far cry from it. Study before you speak! He proved his one sided opinion. And the proposal he said that instead of sensors, people should do the work is just bad resource and human resource management. That is poor solution for unemployment. I wouldn't be surprised to find out that he had a project that was turned down in favor of a smart city project and he just having his rage run tantrum ever since.

[@VeronicaMist]

His whole point is that humans aren’t just a “resource”.

[@Livelikechrist2026]

Sounds like your livelihood depends on data mining and corruption of everything with surveillance. Time to look for a new field.

[@davidkavai7515]

Save your faulty interpretation! Is there anything less pointless that you can add to the conversation?