Pt.Seminar: Digital Citymakers

Register for our virtual event

Wednesday, November 25th 2020

Digital transformation permeates every aspect of everyday life. But is the role of citizens limited to the generation of data in a system of global surveillance and targeted marketing? Are digital assets at a similar risk of being sold off for profit as physical urban commons? Facing these questions, activists join together in global networks and local spaces to advocate for equitable digital cities. 

City makers have always been working to (co)produce and shape urban space: reactivating underused spaces, setting impulses for community life and creative expression, raising awareness through public interventions. Although digital transformation adds new threats and layers of complexity, it also provides city makers with new tools. Local communities are empowered to collect data and adopt digital tools to solve real-world problems. At the same time, their initiatives are linked in global networks of open-source platforms, allowing local solutions to be replicated and adapted to other contexts.  

This Pt.Seminar presents four approaches of “digital city makers” to make an impact on their environment. In an open dialogue between city makers, urban planners and researchers we will uncover the forces that work towards and against the democratization of digital transformation in cities.