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Contribution to Knack Weekend Magazine on Instagram and the city

Belgian magazine Knack Weekend featured an item (in Dutch) about the ways in which social media like Instagram influence the design of cities. The basic idea is that an increasing number of cities and (cultural) organizations are attempting to create picturfe-pretty ‘Instagrammable’ experiences. I was interviewed by the author, Nathalie Le Blanc who found me through this earlier article on a similar topic, and I am mentioned in the article: Graffiti heette het vroeger, en dook het ergens op, dan haalden stadsbesturen vaak zo […] Read More

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Contribution to article “How Instagram Is Changing the Way We Design Cultural Spaces”

A while ago I contributed to a story “How Instagram Is Changing the Way We Design Cultural Spaces” written by Emily Matchar for Smithsonian Magazine. I had kind of forgotten about it, until I was contacted by another journalist interested in Instagram Urbanism, who had found me via this story. Here’s the quote. How Instagram Is Changing the Way We Design Cultural Spaces As neighborhoods, restaurants and museums become more photogenic, are we experiencing an “Instagramization” of the world? […] Michiel […] Read More

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Talk “Critical making of Public Urban Interfaces: an Approach to Designing Frictional Data Dashboards”

On Wednesday 27 June 2018 I gave a short presentation at the NECS2018 conference in Amsterdam. In the presentation I talked about the issue of engaging people with urban data and frictions through alternative approaches to data dashboard design, something I have been interested in for some time. In the talk I briefly spoke about two types of urban dashboards as smart city interfaces: one very efficiency-driven, the other one more artistic and engaging. I then spoke about two more […] Read More

announcements, writings Posted on

New chapter “From real-time city to asynchronicity: exploring the real-time smart city dashboard”

Fresh from the press, this interesting edited volume by colleagues Sybille Lammes, Chris Perkins, Alex Gekker, Sam Hind, Clancy Wilmott and Daniel Evans, called “Time for mapping: Cartographic temporalities”. I have a chapter in the book called  “From real-time city to asynchronicity: exploring the real-time smart city dashboard”. In this essay, I pursue the idea of an ‘asynchronous smart city’ (as originally suggested by design researchers Julian Bleecker and Nicolas Nova), using the temporal framework of sociologist Barbara Adam. At stake, I argue, […] Read More

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Interview Medialab Katowice about municipal data and public values

Medialab Katowice published an e-mail interview with me, as part of the Data (for) Culture conference in Katowice at which I spoke in December 2017. Here is the link to the interview on the Medialab Katowice website >> Below the original correspondence (unedited version of the interview): ?ukasz Mirocha (LM): Generally speaking, what is the role of data in the city of 2018? What value has it for different actors: municipalities, citizens, local and non-local businesses?  Michiel de Lange (Michiel de Lange): The role of data […] Read More

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1 PhD + 1 postdoc position NWO project ”Designing for Controversies in Responsible Smart Cities” deadline 20 April ’18

Recently, the research project ”Designing for Controversies in Responsible Smart Cities” in which I am co-applicant received a NWO grant, as part of the program Smart Culture – Creative Cities. Project lead: Mascha van der Voort. Co-leads: Peter-Paul Verbeek & Michiel de Lange. The mid-sized and centrally located municipality of Amersfoort is building a new Internet of Things infrastructure. A consortium of public and private partners will develop a government+citizen+academic+industry collaboration (a so-called ’quadruple helix’) that allows a wide range of stakeholders to […] Read More

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New publication: cahier series “The Hackable City”

We wrap up the long running The Hackable City project with our partner One Architecture, with – among others – a cahier series targeted at a professional audience. There will also be an edited academic volume that is almost finished: de Lange, Michiel, and Martijn de Waal, eds. 2018, in press. The Hackable City: Digital Media and Collaborative City Making in the Network Society. Singapore: Springer.    Cahier #1 introduces our Hackable City-model and explains how it can be used to explore […] Read More

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Report workshop “Critical Making of Frictional Urban Interfaces”

On March 6 and 7 2018, I co-organized the workshop “Critical Making of Frictional Urban Interfaces”, as part of the course Urban Interfaces that I teach together with Nanna Verhoeff. The workshop was a collaboration between Utrecht University’s Media & Culture Studies department (research group [urban interfaces] + the research master program Media, Arts & Performance), and Creative Coding Utrecht, artists Ruben van de Ven (https://rubenvandeven.com) & Cristina Cochior (http://randomiser.info), in partnership with Het Nieuwe Instituut (https://hetnieuweinstituut.nl), and HKU (https://www.hku.nl). ABOUT […] Read More

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Playtest of urban game Redesire, 20 November 2017 in Utrecht

Together with visiting PhD scholar Delaram Ashtari I organized a small playtest session of urban game Redesire on 20 November 2017 in Utrecht. The game was commissioned by Tessa Peters & Rolf van Boxmeer and designed by We Are Muesli. It is part of a longer-running art/architecture project called Rezone, in which I have collaborated in the past. See announcement below:   Invitation playtesting session Redesire: playing urban redevelopment Monday Nov 20 2017, 11:00-13:00 – location Muntstraat 2a, room 1.11, Utrecht University Participation and co-creation with various stakeholders […] Read More

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Talk at Data (For) Culture conference in Katowice, 2 Dec. 2017

On December 2 2017 I will give a talk at the Data (For) Culture conference in Katowice. The event is organized by Medialab Katowice. About the event: During the conference, experts from Poland and abroad will discuss a number of topics, including: (a) how to combine traditional methods of cultural research with the analysis of large data sets from the web, primarily from social media; (b) how cultural events (official and grassroots) impact on the city’s development; (c) how social media form a networked public […] Read More

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Video available of talk “A Walk in the smart city” (Een wandeling in de slimme stad) Betweterfestival 29 Sept. 2017

Recently I gave a talk (in Dutch) for the Betweterfestival in Tivoli/Vredenburg Utrecht about the increasingly dominant role of data in the ‘smart city’. The talk was called “A Walk in the smart city” (Een wandeling in de slimme stad). The talk was in Dutch. The video of the talk (copyright UU Studium Generale) can be watched here >>   Or via Youtube here:

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[urban interfaces] graduate seminar series 2017-2018

Together with Nanna Verhoeff, Sigrid Merx, and Hira Sheikh, I am organizing this seminar series about Urban Friction. It is part of the research group [urban interfaces] I co-founded with Nanna & Sigrid.   Urban processes have been impacted by frictions all throughout history. The remarkable pace and dynamics of the current phase of global urbanization in the age of mediatization, datafication, and pervasive connectivity suggest a new age where insular, political boundaries have come to shift radically. Perhaps to […] Read More

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Moderation conference “A City as Smart as its Citizens”, 24 Oct. 2017, Dutch Design Week/World Design Event

On 24 Oct. 2017, I was the moderator of the conference “A City as Smart as its Citizens”, organized by Het Nieuwe Instituut. The event took place as part of the Dutch Design Week/World Design Event in the former Philips NatLab in Eindhoven. Keynote speakers were Maya Indira Ganesh (Tactical Technology Collective), Usman Haque (Umbrellium), and Drew Hemment (FutureEverything). Also very cool, my first all-female expert panel, on the topic of smart cities and data no less! How do we go beyond the “smart city” […] Read More

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Tabita Rezaire Lecture and Screening, 5 Oct. 2017

Together with colleagues Koen Leurs and Domitilla Olivieri I organized a Lecture and Screening with media artist Tabita Rezaire, on Oct. 5 2017 in Parnassos Utrecht. Tabita Rezaire PCI: Lecture and Screening In this PCI screening, we have the great honour and privilege to have with us the artist Tabita Rezaire, who will introduce, show and discuss her video work for an hour, followed by a 30 minute Q&A session. We end with drinks. The session is titled Decolonial trinity: technologies of the spiritual, […] Read More

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Video of talk about data in the smart city, Betweterfestival 29 September 2017

For the Betweterfestival on 29 September 2017, I gave a talk about the increasingly dominant role of data in the ‘smart city’. The talk was called “A Walk in the smart city” (Een wandeling in de slimme stad). The talk was in Dutch. See video registration below: Een wandeling in de slimme stad Stel je voor: Je bent vandaag precies op tijd opgestaan dankzij de slimme wekker op je smartphone die in je agenda heeft gezien waar en hoe laat je […] Read More

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Masterclass with Janet Murray, 29 Sept. 2017

On Sept. 29 2017 I co-organized a Masterclass with Janet Murray:In a masterclass with the renowned scholar and interaction designer Janet Murray we shall explore how interactive narratives can help to create engaging experiences, and support people’s critical and problem-solving capacities. During the masterclass, students will work on creating a concept and very rough prototype for such an intertactive narrative, under the guidance of Janet Murray and UU staff. The masterclass is part of a collaboration between Utrecht University’s Media […] Read More

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Moderation session at Netherlands Film Festival (NFF), 27/28 Sept. 2017

As the leader of expertise center Co.Laborations at our department of Media & Culture Studies, I’m setting up and coordinating collaborations with a variety of professional partners, like the Netherlands Film Festival (NFF). Co.Laborations is the Media and Culture Studies department Expertise Centre, based at Utrecht University. Co.Laborations aims to foster partnerships between academia and practitioners in the fields of media and culture. With these partnerships we aim to share our knowledge and expertise to a wider circle of professionals and audiences, and in turn learn from professionals in […] Read More

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Workshop “The Right to the Smart City”, 5-6 Sept 2017, Maynooth University

On 5 and 6 Sept 2017 I was invited to give a talk at the workshop The Right to the Smart City: Citizenship, Civic Participation, Urban Commons and Co-Creation, at Maynooth, as part of Rob Kitchin’s The Programmable City project.   Below the video report of the session I was in (session 2: Urban Commons): Here’s the full program of the 2 days: Introduction: Rob Kitchin, The Right to the Smart City. Session 1: Citizenship and the Smart City Katharine Willis (Plymouth, […] Read More

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Report on the Games for Cities conference 20 – 21 April 2017

The Mobile City, HvA, UU, and Play the City together organized the two-day International City-Gaming Conference Games for Cities on 20 – 21 April 2017 at Het Nieuwe Instituut. I moderated the event. The Games for Cities programme hosted the first international conference on city-games, with leading ‘city-game’ design experts from around the world together with urbanists and decision makers, exploring the role for play and games in citymaking strategies. City-games are increasingly prevalent in the daily work of policy-makers, regulators, urban designers, smart city […] Read More

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Workshop with Eric Gordon “Researching Civic Media: Empowering Citizens or Progressive Fallacy?”, 19 April 2017

The Mobile City, HvA, UU, and Play the City co-organized this workshop session with Eric Gordon, Founding director of Engagement Lab at Emerson College & faculty associate at the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University. Eric Gordon co-edited the book Civic Media: Technology, Design, Practice. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press (2016). Goal of the workshop Through the discussion of a number of texts and accounts of their own experiences, researchers will discuss the concept of civic media as well as appropriate […] Read More