Code and the City

Software has become essential to the functioning of cities. It is deeply and pervasively embedded into the systems and infrastructure of the built environment and in the management and governance of urban societies. Software-enabled technologies and services augment and facilitate how we understand and plan cities, how we manage urban services and utilities, and how we live urban lives.

The extent and depth of the relationship between code and the city are already very strong, evident in the ways that software mediates how people work, consume, communication, travel and play, but is set to become even more pervasive through efforts to create smart cities -- cities that employ ICTs to underpin and drive their economy and governance. Yet, despite the roll-out of software-enabled systems across all aspects of city life, the relationship between code and the city has barely been explored from a critical social science perspective.

The collection of essays in Code and the City will help to fill this lacuna through an interdisciplinary examination of the relationship between software and contemporary urbanism.