Augmenting the citytensions and opportunitiesfor supporting event-rich,place-based living

Alessandro Aurigia.aurigi@ncl.ac.uk

Newcastle University

i-what?

ubiquitousdigitalvirtualcyber

electronic(...)

city

• Need picture of central urban motorway here

‘universal utility’ Vs ‘local events’

Be somewhere but act somewhere

else Tap into remote-ness

Socially active but place passive

Tap into place Make something

happen there Present

Tensions (and opportunities)

Mixing places/scalesGlobal/regionalappears in placePlace has global

penetrationMany ‘locations’ in one

DisorientationLoss of contextLoss of local meaningLoss of character (too many, too different things going on)Isolation (i-pod effect)

Increased visibility, accessibility

and permeabilityEnhanced public-ness

Multi-modal placesNew activities

More reasons to be ‘there’

Mixing private and public(and personal/social)

Public can ‘invade’ privatePrivate can overcome public

Mixing usesMulti-layering of spaces and

activities

•Work on space/place (not technology) holistically in multi-disciplinary teams

Visualise/materialise thresholds. Purposefully

combine physical and digital

•Respect/exploit ‘hereness’ and ‘thereness’

Link places, but avoid incoherence

•Keep to ‘transactional’ scale – local short-range tech

•Allow for character-building, place identity

•Balance flexibility/serendipity and character

Avoid ‘anything, anytime, anywhere’

•Activities and events

•Exchanges and ‘markets’

Introduce social/shared spatial augmentation

•Respect/exploit social context: let communities ‘pull’ and design – Places ARE different

•‘open source’ augmented places – or areas within

Allow for participation and pro-activity