When concrete deserts become intelligent Smart control and the technification of the city
November 2017 - Germany
The way Munich has changed in the last years is leaving its traces : With full force the poor and inopportune parts of society are being chased out of the city by rapidly increasing rents , while luxury-buildings keep rising , one after the other . The extend of this restructuring is going far beyond single construction-projects and the term of gentrification seizes only a partial aspect . Though with the influx of richer people the creation of more industrial and economic branches , more police and justice capacities and the extension of transport and telecommunication infrastructure goes along . However the militarized restructuring of the metropolis goes not unanswered : vandalism and arsons on cars and bureaus of real estate companies , construction sites and building firms are occurring more and more often . This rage also seems to extend against the luxury buildings of the rich and from time to time on the security and police cars guarding them . While new layers of paint are shining on the recently buffed high gloss facades , newspapers awarding money for tips helping the investigation against arsons , while diggers are rolling on to the last undeveloped spaces . This text published some months ago tries to raise the question on this topic , which is the motor behind the restructuring and showing the direction it is heading in . The rampant growing tech-industry is recruiting more and more yuppies , while expelling the excluded to a position of being an isolated , unaware , functioning cog in the machine of urban economy . Instead of only guessing , which possibilities of revolt would remain for us in the upcoming scenarios of power , we should be clear in the here and now , who and what should be attacked .
*** Always higher , faster , better …
… capitalism strives after a permanent growth in profits . It must therefore always optimize its mode of operation and gain access to new key markets . At the same time , control over citizens – the stressed out , the consumers – must be maintained , which means their daily lives must be subjected to always intensifying , always expanding surveillance , quantification , and external direction .
Once every corner of this planet , every human being , every chunk of raw material , and every species becomes integrated into the economy ’ s logic of exploitation , once each person considers each other person as a competitor in the race for profit , little by little , new spheres will be opened for the accumulation of capital . Each aspect of social life must be subjected to an improvement in efficiency ; through the comprehensive implementation of internet , chips , and information technologies , a more “ perfect ” organization of daily life shall become possible . A market that is not just opened up to the selling of millions and millions of “ smart ” gadgets , but as well to the profits made through the archiving , analysing , and processing of the millions of data points to be made from each citizen . Because the “ smartification ” of life is already permeating every aspect of life : “ intelligent ” technologies aren ’ t only used in the work and the private arena , but also in the context of an increasingly flexible mobility , in each sphere of communication and also in the field of power supply . The whole space of society , and especially the city , is becoming a field of always-on devices and chips , that are connected through Wi-Fi , collect data non-stop , and more and more also evaluate that data automatically and act accordingly . The internet of things and so-called artificial intelligence become part of the city – in traffic , malls , in your home , traffic lights , at points of sale , street lamps , cameras , and refrigerators .
Urban , green , and smart
The human being becomes reduced to a wandering data producer , whose informational excretions and user choices get saved everywhere and mined effectively . Presumably everything should get more practical , because we don ’ t have to do anything by ourselves , except operate a smartphone and organize everything with apps . Selling and also exploitation of data through
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