Digital Unitary Urbanism Investigating the role of the internet in the emergence of mobile and location-based technologies in urban space Nicolas Cederstrøm Tau Ulv Lenskjold Rune Huvendick Jensen IT University of Copenhagen / CityNova

Digital Unitary Urbanism (masters thesis 2004) Field of interest: technology city man

Digital Unitary Urbanism Theoretical conceptualisation of a new kind of urbanism characterised by the ability of individuals and groups to appropriate and co-create urban space Re-thinking of the situationistic notion of Unitary Urbanism A way to grasp changing social and cultural practices and phenomena in urban space From ubiquitous ’access’ to ubiquitous technology as an intrinsic condition of everyday urban life Urban space as constituted by social and physical space

Previously we have considered in situ access to urban space The internet as infrastructural backbone to ubiquitous technologies enables remote access to urban space How does remote access constitute the appropriation and co- creation of urban space identified in DUU? Two quick case-studies The internet as remote access to urban space

(Proboscis, London) – A location-based system enabling people in a certain urban neighbourhood to annotate urban space and share everyday information. Urban Tapestries

(Newt, Tokyo) – A mobile game in which players online and players in the city cooperate to collect and exchange digital items placed in urban space. Mogi

Asynchronous Remote annotation of urban space Physical space as context Shared social knowledge Inclusive (public domain) Urban Tapestries Synchronous (real-time) Cross locational cooperation in urban space Physical space as gameboard Gaming communities Exclusive (subscribe to participate) Mogi

As appropriation of physical space –through augmentation. As co-creation of social space –through (cross locational) collaboration. A preliminary typology of remote access to urban space

Representations of remote presence in social and physical space (telepresence) Spatial ontologies (mixed reality, virtual vs. real) Location based games; the significance of remote presence and co-operative social space Further research