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This research explores two prevailing perspectives of the smart city’s impact on spatial integration - that of William J. Mitchell, and Simon Marvin and Steve Graham. By examining and comparing the case studies of Punggol, Singapore and Greenwich, London through their lenses, the spatial impacts of connected technologies are more comprehensively understood.
Extract 2, from Section 2: Mitchell on the Integration of Space
“I no longer had to go to work… the work now came to me.”
Just as the materials that form a building are its most fundamental components, the bit is the foundational unit of information involved in digital communications, and henceforth for the production or proliferation of smart cities. From this, one can already note Mitchell’s perspective on digital networks in urban environments in City of Bits, a dissection of a smart city’s theoretical architectural implications. The author proposes that there will eventually be (or already is) an entire city that is digital, formed out of bits, and that such smart city technologies will bring the unparalleled integration of spaces and infrastructure, allowing for possibilities of equalising access for all (Mitchell, 1995). The arguments which preface this hypothesis will be considered as Mitchell’s conceptual framework, to be used in later analysis.”
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Figure 2: Image of The National Gallery’s Micro Gallery Room, an example of smart city technology used by Mitchell to describe the change of occupant perception of existing physical infrastructures (The National Gallery, n.d.)
This research explores two prevailing perspectives of the smart city’s impact on spatial integration - that of William J. Mitchell, and Simon Marvin and Steve Graham. By examining and comparing the case studies of Punggol, Singapore and Greenwich, London through their lenses, the spatial impacts of connected technologies are more comprehensively understood.
Extract 2, from Section 2: Mitchell on the Integration of Space
“I no longer had to go to work… the work now came to me.”
Just as the materials that form a building are its most fundamental components, the bit is the foundational unit of information involved in digital communications, and henceforth for the production or proliferation of smart cities. From this, one can already note Mitchell’s perspective on digital networks in urban environments in City of Bits, a dissection of a smart city’s theoretical architectural implications. The author proposes that there will eventually be (or already is) an entire city that is digital, formed out of bits, and that such smart city technologies will bring the unparalleled integration of spaces and infrastructure, allowing for possibilities of equalising access for all (Mitchell, 1995). The arguments which preface this hypothesis will be considered as Mitchell’s conceptual framework, to be used in later analysis.”
Figure 2: Image of The National Gallery’s Micro Gallery Room, an example of smart city technology used by Mitchell to describe the change of occupant perception of existing physical infrastructures (The National Gallery, n.d.) Extract 1, from Section 1: Introduction
Being raised in Singapore, one is taught that in lieu of an abundance of arable land, minerals, oil, or other natural resources, the country must be reliant on people - their education, skills, and work ethic - to develop and progress. At the same time, ideas of ‘smart cities’ and the transformation of Singapore through digitisation is proliferated by its government in news headlines, textbooks, and increasingly in day-to-day life. In Singapore’s vision of a smart city, technology is harnessed as a new, radical resource to encourage infrastructural, economical, and societal growth…Likewise, the Mayor of London has set out the “Smarter London Together” roadmap in 2018, aiming to develop London into the world’s smartest city (Mayor of London, 2018, p.3). The recent Covid-19 pandemic lockdowns have only forced the accelerated adoption of technology in light of the lack of physical mobility. It is clear to see the upward surge in not only academic, but also political interest in ‘smart cities’, the technologies associated with them, and how they may affect the cities and communities in which they are implemented. On a personal level, this increasing digitisation of both Singapore and London, bolstered by the current emphasis on the technological transformation of space, is certainly palpable. And yet, the metamorphosis of spaces in both cities, and communities’ response to them, seem somewhat dissimilar. It is this perceptible function of technology in the shaping of physical spaces and geography which has led to this chapter’s discussion on the smart cities of Singapore and London, and how they may differ.”
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Figure 1: Banner image of the Smart Nation Singapore official government website, illustration of residents in Singapore along with icons of e-governance technology applications embedded into the city (Smart Nation Singapore, 2022)
Extract 3, from Section 3: Graham & Marvin on the Disintegration of Space
“In Splintering Urbanism, Graham and Marvin prelude any arguments by insisting that a city is differentiated from nature through the formation of an infrastructural network, and that networked infrastructure in the form of transport, utilities, and streets create the dynamic construction of the urban (Graham & Marvin, 2001). It is argued that networked infrastructure allows us to sustain our actions through time and space in a process that is both social and technological in nature, thus called sociotechnical. The authors are quick to note however that all infrastructural networks, emerging or otherwise, sustain our actions in an uneven manner, in a sense mutating the spaces and times of all forms of exchanges. This warping of space that is inherent in the form and function of networked infrastructures is best described through the following quote:
“The construction of spaces of mobility and flow for some, however, always involves the construction of barriers for others.”
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Figure 3: Image of the broadband speed map of London and surrounding areas, highlighting uneven coverage of broadband over the UK (Financial Times, 2017)
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Mayor of London. (2018). Smarter London Together. London: Greater London Authority.
Mitchell, W. J. (1995) City of bits : space, place, and the infobahn. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT P.
Graham, S. & Marvin, S. (2001) Splintering urbanism : networked infrastructures, technological mobilities and the urban condition. London: Routledge.
Image Credits
Being raised in Singapore, one is taught that in lieu of an abundance of arable land, minerals, oil, or other natural resources, the country must be reliant on people - their education, skills, and work ethic - to develop and progress. At the same time, ideas of ‘smart cities’ and the transformation of Singapore through digitisation is proliferated by its government in news headlines, textbooks, and increasingly in day-to-day life. In Singapore’s vision of a smart city, technology is harnessed as a new, radical resource to encourage infrastructural, economical, and societal growth…Likewise, the Mayor of London has set out the “Smarter London Together” roadmap in 2018, aiming to develop London into the world’s smartest city (Mayor of London, 2018, p.3). The recent Covid-19 pandemic lockdowns have only forced the accelerated adoption of technology in light of the lack of physical mobility. It is clear to see the upward surge in not only academic, but also political interest in ‘smart cities’, the technologies associated with them, and how they may affect the cities and communities in which they are implemented. On a personal level, this increasing digitisation of both Singapore and London, bolstered by the current emphasis on the technological transformation of space, is certainly palpable. And yet, the metamorphosis of spaces in both cities, and communities’ response to them, seem somewhat dissimilar. It is this perceptible function of technology in the shaping of physical spaces and geography which has led to this chapter’s discussion on the smart cities of Singapore and London, and how they may differ.”
Figure 1: Banner image of the Smart Nation Singapore official government website, illustration of residents in Singapore along with icons of e-governance technology applications embedded into the city (Smart Nation Singapore, 2022)
Extract 3, from Section 3: Graham & Marvin on the Disintegration of Space
“In Splintering Urbanism, Graham and Marvin prelude any arguments by insisting that a city is differentiated from nature through the formation of an infrastructural network, and that networked infrastructure in the form of transport, utilities, and streets create the dynamic construction of the urban (Graham & Marvin, 2001). It is argued that networked infrastructure allows us to sustain our actions through time and space in a process that is both social and technological in nature, thus called sociotechnical. The authors are quick to note however that all infrastructural networks, emerging or otherwise, sustain our actions in an uneven manner, in a sense mutating the spaces and times of all forms of exchanges. This warping of space that is inherent in the form and function of networked infrastructures is best described through the following quote:
“The construction of spaces of mobility and flow for some, however, always involves the construction of barriers for others.”
Figure 3: Image of the broadband speed map of London and surrounding areas, highlighting uneven coverage of broadband over the UK (Financial Times, 2017)
-
Mayor of London. (2018). Smarter London Together. London: Greater London Authority.
Mitchell, W. J. (1995) City of bits : space, place, and the infobahn. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT P.
Graham, S. & Marvin, S. (2001) Splintering urbanism : networked infrastructures, technological mobilities and the urban condition. London: Routledge.
Image Credits
- Smart Nation Singapore. (2022). Untitled. Available at: https://www.smartnation.gov.sg/ (Accessed 20 May 2022)
- The National Gallery London. (n.d.). Untitled. Available at: http://rupertshepherd.info/publications/conferences/from-kiosks-to-linked-data#identifier_0_2224 (Accessed 20 May 2022)
- Financial Times. (2017). FT analysis of Ofcom data. Available at: https://ig.ft.com/gb-broadband-speed-map/ (Accessed 20 May 2022)