peterme.com: Manuel Castells lecture: Cities in the Information Age - The Diigo Meta page

• 06 Jun 13
  

  Vanessa Vaile

  2004 Manuel Castells lecture

  cityspace lecture information city citymooc cities Manuel Castells urban global-city network networks space Manuel.Castells

  • Cities, spatial forms, processes are fundamental to societies
  • Networks are global
  • To study cities in the information age is to analyze the spatial form of the networked society
  • 8 points of relationship between IT paradigm and dynamics of cities.
  • futurist predictions failed
  • Currently, this year, we passed the threshold of 50% urban population on the planet
  • This kind of urbanization is different than earlier urbanization
  • Simultaneous concentration and decentralization
  • kept together by communications technologies
  • metropolitan region is a worldwide phenomenon
  • Organized around networks of communication
  • The global city is a process, a network.
  • Every major metro area is part of this global city
  • actual space is local, and linked to local issues and dynamics
  • Most of the actual space is local, and linked to local issues and dynamics.
  • complexity of making your living on the global network while enjoying life in the local city
  • The 8 Connections
  • 1st Connection
     The global city, centralized/decentralized linked together through individuals with high levels of control
  • 2nd Connection
  • The Wealth of Cities.
     Knowledge Economy. Innovation as the source of the creation of wealth. A new disparity between producers of knowledge and those who are not.
  • Universities are fundamental. Under two conditions -- connection to metro environ; and they must demonstrate part of the global network of universities.
  • 3rd Connection
  • Sociability. Communities... urban communities, virtual communities
  • People combine those two forms of sociability -- developed a hybrid
  • Networked individualism
  • Place-based community.
  • the real digital divide, in technical terms, is broadband
  • 3rd world - main problem continues to be access
  • education and cultural divide, which has always existed, becomes amplified by the internet
  • 5th point of connection
  • Identity
  • people project themselves and their lives on the internet
  • 6th point of connection
  • governments
  • relationship between planning and planning control
  • 7th point of connection
  • Social movements are networked
  • Anti-globalization (actually, it's Anti-corporate-globalization). It's all local groups... Connected globally.
  • not members of formal associations. People are increasingly distant from formal associations, but not ready to shut up, and explore the possibility to organize their own networks, and then disband when the issue is settled.
  • 8th point of connection.
  • Environmental issues.
  • Metro growth under these conditions is a contested terrain
  • Define the emerging spatial form.

  • The metropolitan region is not just a big metro area.

      

    It is a constellation of settlementss, population, and activities, large expanse of territories, no name, no authority, extreme diversity, organizaed around transportation and communication, and in a network pattern of many urban centers.

      

    It can be oxymoronic. The largest metro center in the SF metro region is not SF. It's San Jose.

      

    These centers become connected. Think London and Paris.
  • corresponds to the information age
  • three ideal types/models.
  • The Los Angeles Model
  • constellation of different centers
  • Extreme social and ethnic segregation
  • Real Estate is still the engine of growth. Driver of spatial patterning
  • Informality at the heart of the process
  • Mexico City Model
  • a notch above the LA pattern of segregation toward fragmentation
  • Barcelona Model
  • Multi nuclear structure

  • vitality of public space in all urban centers. Maintenance of public space is the key element of organizing life in the city. Rather than pushing away the immigrants, public spaces are built in the neighborhoods, improving the quality of public space.

      

    High density. Strong level of commercial activity at the street level.

      

    Mass transit networks that network everything with everything
  • Hyper communication through mobile communication
  • Strong street life. Street life as a key for the city and the key for safety. There are always people around. [Echoes of Jane Jacobs]
  • strong local govt. There is no metro region govt. The main thing is the association of local governments to address a number of problems together.
  • older population is in a growing immigrant society that they don't accept.
  • Implications of this analysis for practice
  • Three issues emerge.
  • 1. Ability to manage multimodal communication channels.
  • 2. High density. Is necessary, like it or not. New forms of livable high density.
  • 3. Public space becomes the core of the city again. As the space of urban social life.
  • The consequences
  • 1. Planning of mobility and connectivity through inter modality
  • 2. Environmental planning as a holistic understanding
  • 3. Urban design and architecture of the city to restore meaning and mark places symbolically all around the metro landscape
  • 4. The most important thing is to develop an urban design meaningful appraoch throughout the space, creating a new social identity.
  • If you want a better urban life, you invent it, then fight for it.

  69 more annotations...

• 13 Apr 10
  

  green cities research

  • Implications of this analysis for practice.
     There is no turning back. We will increasingly live in a metro world. connected globally through networks of communication.

      

    The wealth of cities depend on innovation, knowledge, services, all linked to metro areas.

      

    Three issues emerge.

      

    1. Ability to manage multimodal communication channels. Multimodal in all kinds of communication. How you handle multimodality.

      

    2. High density. Is necessary, like it or not. New forms of livable high density.

      

    3. Public space becomes the core of the city again. As the space of urban social life. Not one square here, another square here... But public space everywhere -- each neighborhood, working class, etc. And not fancy -- just nice public space.

      

    The consequences
     1. Planning of mobility and connectivity through inter modality. Telecom, transportation, commerce.
     2. Environmental planning as a holistic understanding of the various dimensions of life in human settlements. Science and tech toward increasing quality of life.
     3. Urban design and architecture of the city to restore meaning and mark places symbolically all around the metro landscape. Not just monuments, but meaningful infrastructure. Airports, bridges, public works -- public works as architecture.
     4. The most important thing is to develop an urban design meaningful appraoch throughout the space, creating a new social identity.

      

    Ultimately all this depends on the political capacity to act on society at large, not just narrow segments of interest groups.

      

    This is difficult. There is a a worldwide crisis of political legitimacy. Politics has become increasingly professionalized.

      

    Urban innovation and social change will have to push govt and people, rather than being the result of politicians. The alliance between professional and concerned citizens must be called upon to save the cities in the information age, on behalf of the citizens. If you want a better urban life, you invent it, then fight for it.
• 10 Mar 09
  

  Klaus Birk

  architecture urban culture network society castells cities

• 12 Jun 06
  

  academic culture society.information

• 29 Oct 04
  

  Hugh Blackmer

  bloggery geospatial regional

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