Hackable City

Open data seem to be the wondrous tool for the 21st century. With everybody connecting to everything, and everything to everything to build the internet of things, great things are possible, so some claim. Others are convinced that would the realization of Orwell's biggest nightmares. They yell: "1984 was a dystopian novel, not a manual."

Evgeny Morozov is one of the most fierce tech critics around these days, see him talk about the dangers of the internet of things in a lecture last year. Others see the future as less pre-designed and more open to democratic processes. Not doing away with all dangers, but trusting humans to make smart decisions for themselves, they believe we can deal with the technology of tomorrow. A great example of this latter school are the thinkers and designers behind this great publication [download link]. As the team writes in their introduction: "The project investigates the opportunities of digital media technologies for the empowerment of citizens and other stakeholders in a democratic process of citymaking. It also explores the shift in roles of and relationships between governments, (design) professionals and citizens in this process."