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Articles / Next Generation City:

Next Generation City
Luciana Grosu, Romania

My proposal will mainly focus on streets, the city’s “most dangerous places”. Streets are criminals’ or homelessness people’ home, streets are the “scene” of all crimes and delicts, streets are dirty, ugly, unsafe, grey and suffocating. Nobody would spend more time on the street that it takes to reach his destination. But what if streets were transformed with the help of new technology in order to reflect a totally different reality?
First of all, streets are the only places in a city where all, absolutely all people “meet”. I agree using the term “meet” seems quite exaggerated when usually it’s all about unnoticing passing one another. Yet, theoretically, people of all ages, social categories, ethnicities, etc could “talk” to each other if they would want to. This virtual interaction potential could be further developed if streets were no longer perceived as mere “transition spaces”.
Secondly, metros, trams, bus stations or airports are the only places where people do nothing but wait. Theoretically, people would have enough time to interact with each other, even if only for a small amount of time. However, unwritten social rules encourage them to do anything but talk to the persons around them (surf the net, read, listen to music, use their mobile phones).
Thirdly, if the above-mentioned spaces (streets and waiting-spaces) would be redesigned so as to favor social contact, people’ feeling of solidarity might increase and they could become more responsible towards their city and its inhabitants. These are my proposals.

“High-tech Conversation-Tables”

“High-tech Conversation-Tables” should be placed on streets, bus stations, metro stations, railways, airports. These small tables should invite people to sit down, surf the net, make free phone-calls and…talk. However, only one person sitting at the table won’t have access to any of these services. There have to be two of them. It will take two “personal codes” to be simultaneously introduced in order to gain access to the free connection. Each person will receive a different personal code, according to the area of the city they live in. Thus only two codes from different neighborhoods will „match”. It will be impossible to invite your next-door friends and relatives to surf the web for free. You will have to „team up” with a complete stranger. Furthermore, every time a person will „log in” in this system, she will receive some „free gifts” to be given away (these could be reduction tickets, discounts, free invitations to different events, other advantages). No one will have the right to use those „free gifts” for himself. The only possibility will be to transfer them, in real-time, to the one sitting next to you. Of course, one may choose not to transfer anything to anyone, but the „gifts” will be lost after 24 h. If you don’t give anything until midnight, the next day you will get a different list of „free gifts”, not the same as the day before. So if the person in front of you has just received something that might interest you and you don’t befriend her, you’ll never know what you missed out. Also, a superficial conversation won’t be enough to find out more about the needs and the interests of the other „table partner”. In order to know if you can „exchange” or not the free gifts with the stranger near you, a real dialogue will have to take shape. The word „exchange” is conventionally used here: through this system, people will have the option to give without receiving as well as receive without giving. Furthermore, you can „pass” your gift to another person and that person can pass it to another one and so on, thus forming „chains” of giving and receiving.

“City’s electronic email-boxes”

“City’s electronic email-boxes” will not be internet points, but devices also placed on the streets and inside the public means of transport (bus, metro, and tram) that will display letters from the city’s inhabitants. The email-boxes will actually consist of small screens with a very clear display. The letters displayed will be opinion letters (talking about political/economical/social issues) or more personal messages (asking for advice, asking for help).People will send their letters to a common, email address named “Voices of the city”. Their letters will be checked for appropriateness by a special commission and then displayed, by turns, on the “electronic email-boxes”’ screens. The ones who will want to answer a certain letter will have the possibility to do so by sending a free SMS to a special number that will “redirect” the replies to the original email address of the one who wrote the letter. All letters will be anonymous and will not contain any personal info, however people will be free to include their contact information or ask for the letter’s author contact information in their replies. (The replies will not be posted anywhere, but sent directly to the letter’s author personal email).

“City TV”

“City TV”. The city’s squares should also benefit from larger screens, like the “advertising screens” placed directly on buildings that would transmit a selection of the day most important TV programmes (news, cultural events). The screens should also display videos made by citizens (something like a local Youtube). Hopefully, people will gather to watch together TV programmes, discuss the most important events and even contribute by sending their own videos. Nowadays, most people do have a TV-set at home, but they can only post personal photos or videos by creating an account on of the hundreds available websites on the internet, which means their work almost “gets lost” in the chaotic WorldWideWeb. I believe the city’s inhabitants felt more eager to get involved in the city’s life if they would know their videos could be seen on a larger screen by every passer-by.

I assume the “High-tech Conversation-Tables” will democratize poor people’ access to internet, thus encouraging them to also use the “City’s electronic email-boxes”. Excluded people will also gain courage to make their voices heard by a larger public by sending letters to be posted on the “City’s electronic email-boxes”. Lonely people of all ages who are only looking for an “excuse” to interact will be happy to use “City TV” ‘squares as a meeting-point. Additionally, the “more responsible” citizens will be interested in videotaping different negative aspects of city life and thus fight for a change.