The Shift From Optimization to Engagement
As part of The Economist's "Digital Cities Index 2022", we provided strategic insight on what's working, and what isn't, in the smart cities movement.
Anthony Townsend
The Future of Urban Tech
Self-repairing roads and sewers. Forests and farms inside buildings. Software that follows our instructions rather than following us around. These are just some of the possibilities and pitfalls for urban tech in the decade ahead. This site is a kaleidoscope…
The Bus Observatory
BusWatching is a micro-publication highlighting the thinking and work of a bus data working group we've been building at Cornell Tech throughout 2020–2021, continuing into 2022.
Rethinking Robots
Last June, we struggled to find a space to talk about the future of autonomous vehicles amidst so many urgent and important conversations. But one opportunity, the BBC's remarkable Rethink podcast, arrived on our doorstep in early July.
What’s next for urban tech?
This paper is the first output from our ongoing work with the Urban Tech Hub @ Cornell Tech, and identifies key ethical dilemmas shaping the future of networks, sensing, and computation in cities. This discussion paper explores the emerging territory…
The Post-Pandemic Workplace
We were delighted to participate in a fascinating new study by longtime collaborators Lean Doody and the team at Arup on “workplacemaking”, a new approach to designing and managing distributed work in the post-pandemic city. See the report, Making Place:…
Best Business Books of 2020: GHOST ROAD
There's a nice writeup of Ghost Road by one of my favorite business writers, James Surowiecki, in this year's list of best books on technology and innovation in Strategy + Business, the PwC magazine.
Flexible Density
Rather than rushing out with a perspective early on in the pandemic that I’d later regret, I decided to wait and see how things shaped up. Finally, in late October 2020, I had a chance to reflect in Nautilus (article)…