In a world engineered for efficiency and seamlessness, technologies such as automated sensing systems play an increasingly central role in solving urban challenges. While digital tools and data collection technologies, such as scan cars, present many opportunities for cities to increase efficiency and decrease operating costs, they also raise many well-founded concerns regarding data and privacy in the public realm. Additionally, designing for “seamlessness” can obscure the mechanisms behind a technology, making it difficult for citizens to understand and have agency within these systems. In order to ensure that the benefits afforded by these systems are achieved without sacrificing the privacy of citizens, we believe that design must play an increasingly central role.
Collaborating with AMS Institute
At UNSense, we explore how new technologies and scientific insights can allow us to better design spaces toward more human ends. Seeking to explore how this works in practice, we collaborated with the Amsterdam Institute for Advanced Metropolitan Solutions, where our shared interest in responsible urban digitization meets our complementary areas of expertise (design and research, respectively). Our collaboration aims to build a platform to bring together academics, designers, and industry experts to create new metropolitan solutions.
