Keynote Speaker: Sarah Williams, Ph.D.
Sarah Williams is an Associate Professor of Technology and Urban Planning at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) where she is also Director of the Civic Data Design Lab and the Leventhal Center for Advanced Urbanism.
Who is building the cities of the future? For whom are they being built? Can big data, smart cities, and other emerging technologies contribute to a sustainable and equitable world?
As we move deeper into the information age, technology has gained renewed relevance as a provider of governance tools and a mechanism to increase societal legibility and monitoring. As a result, it has informed policymakers on the design and management of urban spaces. In our daily lives, technology has had major impacts: from helping us find the most efficient commuting route to enabling the real-time exposure of human rights violations. Considering the magnitude and influence of digital systems on city dynamics, it becomes crucial to critically examine who gets to access and control these resources. It is also important to assess what their impacts could be on cities, particularly on vulnerable communities and environments. Could we bridge the communication between the relevant agencies and the public in terms of the development of technologies?
This one-day symposium will gather academics, researchers, practitioners, and activists to share their thoughts on the current and imaginable pathways toward the cities of the future.
This symposium will be virtual and open to everyone. Registration and more details here
Schedule:
Opening Plenary
9:00 – 10:00: Welcome Session and Opening Keynote
Morning Sessions:
10:10 – 11:10: Urban Housing and Data
11:20 – 12:20: Mobility Tech at the Human Scale
Lunch Break
Afternoon Sessions:
1:00 – 2:00: Global Perspectives on Emerging Technologies
2:10 – 3:10: Natural Resources and the Urban Environment
Closing Plenary
3:20 – 4:20: Digital Futures in the City
Organizers
Kristin Potterton (kpottert@uw.edu)
Salman Rashdi (srashdi@uw.edu)
Mingming Cai (mmcai@uw.edu)
Ana Costa (anacosta@uw.edu)
Questions? Email cbesymposium@uw.edu