Exploring the digital city

The impact of digital technology and infrastructure on social life, and on city form and development, is the focus of an ongoing series of workshop seminars organised by University researchers.

The workshop, Exploring the Digital City, brings together scholars and practitioners in new media, architecture, planning, geography, and the social sciences, from across Scotland. Its aim is to develop new avenues of interdisciplinary research with a view to building the foundations of a new research institute, the Geddes Institute for Urban Research.

The third seminar 'Urban Space + Infrastructure', which focusses on the impact of digital communication systems on the changing shape of urban life will be held in September. It will feature presentations by Saskia Sassen, the Ralph Lewis Professor of Sociology at the University of Chicago, and Centennial Visiting Professor at the London School of Economics; Professor Graham Shane, Columbia University School of Architecture; and Jane Jacobs Professor of Cultural Geography at the University of Edinburgh.

"We are pleased to have been able to assemble such a distinguished international panel of scholars." said Dr Lorens Holm, director of humanities at the School of Architecture who organises the workshops in collaboration with Dr Nicholas Fyfe, Reader in Social and Urban Geography.

The series of four seminars are funded by a £10,000 grant from the Arts and Humanities Research Council, and supported by Applied Computing/Interactive Design Lab, the Department of Geography, and the School of Architecture. Previous sessions of Exploring the Digital City looked at issues raised by new media as a form of urban practice ('New Media + New Space', including the installation at the DCA entitled laser\net) and the emerging field of media ecology 'Media Ecology + Freedom of Speech'.

The fourth and final session, also scheduled for September, is entitled 'Policing + Politics' and will look at issues raised by the use of new surveillance and policing technologies.

"Our intention in organising the series is to bring together researchers from across the arts and social sciences who are interested in how digital technology and media affect the design and use of urban space," explained Dr Holm.

"We have a very interesting mix of national and international speakers and the discussions so far have been informal and intense, involving a very close interrogation of issues raised by the speakers. These discussions have already led to potential research collaborations."