Science Fiction and the Real Future of Cities

[Mikel]

Interesting post on io9 got me thinking about technology, and the real
coming urbanity of slums
http://io9.com/5362912/the-city-is-a-battlesuit-for-surviving-the-future

My comment (still in moderation)..

Would welcome more discussion on what the infrastructure of future
cities means for slums .. the future of most urban growth is going to
happen not in science fiction designed fantasies, but unplanned and
unserviced growth in mostly poverty.

"The overwhelming majority of these are not old post-industrial world
cities such as London or New York, but large chaotic sprawls of the
industrialising world such as the "maximum cities" of Mumbai or
Guangzhou. Here the infrastructures are layered, ad-hoc, adaptive and
personal - people there really are walking architecture, as Archigram
said."

Read the UN-HABITAT's 2003 report "The Challenge of
Slums" ([www.unhabitat.org]) or Mike Davis's "Planet of Slums".
Completely sobering look at why urbanity will mean for the majority of
people on this planet. Yes, theoretically attractive and celebrated as
ad-hoc, adaptive and innovative .. and yes, I too totally marvel at
the resourcefulness of slum dwellers .. the realities are intolerable.

Saying that, the most sci-fi moment I have ever experienced is sitting
in the back of a rickshaw in Mumbai, with Schuyler Erle using his
netbook and GSM modem to chat on IRC. That invisible, behavior of the
street is roaring into the developed world much faster than water and
sewage lines.

I work with the Writable City through OpenStreetMap. This November
we're bringing OSM to Africa's largest slum, Kibera. The hope is that
the invisible street can be harnessed to make the invisible visible ..
Kibera and most every other slum on the planet are blank spots on the
map .. and motivate residents and government to imagine and create a
better city

[Juliana Rotich]

Here is a picture showing the re-imagining of the Kibera landscape in a few more decades... It adds to the idea of making the invisible visible, and in time, i am sure re-imagining it is one small step to changing it.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/afropicmusing/3871049710/in/set-72157622060386051/

Best,

J. 

--
Juliana Rotich
(e) jul...@ushahidi.com
(w) www.ushahidi.com
(b) http://blog.ushahidi.com
(p) +1 913 579 6040
(skype) juliechebet
Ushahidi - Crowdsourcing Crisis Information

[Mikel Maron]

Patrick -- totally .. though I think a mapping project needs to walk a fine line here,
recording what is there on the ground, and providing a proper basis for discussion
of what is still invisible, such as cadastral type data, and where the future lies.
And certainly, having a publicly visible map of what's existing already strengthens
the knowledge position of the dispossessed.

Compare with developments like http://www.nation.co.ke/News/-/1056/656712/-/item/0/-/rdb86xz/-/index.html

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Patrick McGrann <pmcg...@gmail.com>
Date: Wed, Sep 23, 2009 at 11:24 AM
Subject: Re: Science Fiction and the Real Future of Cities
To: map-k...@googlegroups.com

My main lesson to add, Mikel, after years in the slums of Africa and
Latin America is the huge wealth and potential that can be unleashed
if local residents can have a strong footing with which to base their
lives, ie if they believe their land will not be taken away often slum
dwellers can invest a great deal of their own resources into improving
their own communities. Yet while uncertainty reins, it is obviously
foolish to take all of your resources and put them behind something
that might disappear tomorrow.

So anything mapping can do to clarify or reinforce squatting rights
could be a very powerful tool towards unleashing much larger
slum-based efforts.

Just a though to share,

PM

On Tue, Sep 22, 2009 at 4:46 PM, Mikel <mikel...@gmail.com> wrote:
>

--
Patrick McGrann
+1 612 600 5791
+962 799 516 803
+972 59 814 0212
☺

--
Patrick McGrann
+1 612 600 5791
+962 799 516 803
+972 59 814 0212
☺

[Brett Bullington]

here is a nice piece on the CFK clinic in Kibera that was filmed
during my visit (I am in the background for a bout 2 seconds in one
clip)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gW-wbTMWqko

[Mikel Maron]

Nice piece, thanks Brett. Can't wait to meet Salim and everyone.

---

From: Brett Bullington <bulli...@gmail.com>
To: map-k...@googlegroups.com
Sent: Sat, October 17, 2009 9:15:06 AM
Subject: the clinic