On 16 March, renowned author and technology critic Evgeny Morozov visited Erasmus University for a workshop and a lecture, organised by the Knowledge Lab Urban Big Data. During this afternoon, Morozov focused on the concept of the smart city as transitional point towards the utopia of private cities.
In his talks, Morozov voiced his concerns with regard to an increasingly personalised, digitalised economy, in which people seemingly benefit from sharing their (personal) data:
Unless you are connected, you cannot participate in the dominant system. This undermines the right to be disconnected.
Morozov argued that the concept of the "smart city" lies at the intersection of three domains - technology, urbanism, finance - and that its appeal can only be understood in the context of neoliberal urbanisation sweeping the globe as well as the crisis of democratic capitalism. The utopia of private cities, said Morozov, is the logical culmination of neoliberal utopia faced with the growing incompatibility between financialised capitalism and democratic institutions.
Morozov's lecture was followed by a panel discussion, in which he was accompanied by Maurits Martijn, author at De Correspondent, and the Centre for BOLD Cities' academic director Liesbet van Zoonen.