The New Urban Science – Digitalising Cities through Interdisciplinary and Transdisciplinary Collaboration

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We welcome Andrew Karvonen, Associate Professor of Sustainable Urban Development in the Division of Urban and Regional Studies at the KTH Royal Institute of Technology. He draws on research from Urban Studies and Science & Technology Studies to study how technologies, people and the built environment contribute to urban innovation activities.

Date and time: 1 December 2020, 3-4pm
Speaker: Andrew Karvonen
Title: The New Urban Science – Digitalising Cities through Interdisciplinary and Transdisciplinary Collaboration
Zoom: https://kth-se.zoom.us/j/67432682790?pwd=dVgzbjRSbUVFT2FOYTByYlZrTU9BUT09
Meeting ID: 674 3268 2790
Password: DF2020

Watch the recorded presentation:

Abstract: Digitalisation is resulting in rapid and profound changes to cities in the early 21^st century. Sensor networks, dashboards, control rooms, the Internet of Things, and other technological interventions are being designed and deployed through smart cities projects and programmes to upgrade and extend existing urban services. A key driver of the digitalisation of cities is the New Urban Science that involves the application of digital tools and technologies to improve how we know cities. Proponents of the New Urban Science often focus on urban data analytics and advanced modelling techniques while overlooking opportunities for broader engagement between the natural sciences, social sciences and the humanities as well as with non-academic stakeholders in the public and private sectors and civil society.

In this presentation, I reflect on the historical development of cities as sites of scientific study and technological innovation, and then examine the potential for the New Urban Science to adopt interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary approaches that involve collective approaches to knowledge production and application. Collaboration between academic disciplines as well as with non-academic stakeholders raises multiple questions about scientific practices and norms but also holds significant promise to develop applied analytic techniques that can be more relevant to the needs of society at large. I argue that an interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary approach to the New Urban Science is desparately needed if we are committed to digitalisation agendas that can produce cities that are that are socially robust, environmentally friendly and economically prosperous.

Bio: Andrew Karvonen is Associate Professor of Sustainable Urban Development in the Division of Urban and Regional Studies at the KTH Royal Institute of Technology. He draws on research from Urban Studies and Science & Technology Studies to study how technologies, people and the built environment contribute to urban innovation activities. He has completed funded research projects on water and energy infrastructure networks, urban experiments and laboratories, and most recently, smart cities and digitalisation. Andy’s most recent book (edited with Federico Cugurullo and Federico Caprotti) is Inside Smart Cities: Place, Politics and Urban Innovation (Routledge, 2019).