Government
CityLab Daily: The Sensory City Philosopher
Also: Why New York City is reporting sustainability progress to the UN, and imagining a “Canadian Anti-Tourist League.”
Keep up with the most pressing, interesting, and important city stories of the day. Sign up for the CityLab Daily newsletter here.
People watching, plus: Carlo Ratti is an architect, engineer, and inventor. He’s also a kind of philosopher of the smart city. As director of MIT’s Senseable City Lab, Ratti’s team deploys digital sensors, artificial intelligence, and other wifi-connected inventions in cities. But his work differs from “smart city” dogma in a key way: It isn’t about directly addressing problems with technology as a “solution.” Instead, it’s about observing people’s interactions with urban spaces.