Tecnopolíticas da cidade: urbanidade contemporânea em distopias e outras narrativas

Abstract

Writing a thesis on contemporary cities and their relationship with technological transformations is like trying to photograph a landscape from inside a moving car. Due to the accelerated changes that societies are undergoing, many of them associated with information and communication technologies (ICT) and neoliberalism as a socio-economic and cognitive phenomenon, current views become obsolete very quickly. In this context, this research explores the technopolitical relationships between some aspects of Brazilian cities - such as socio-spatial inequality, the privatization of management and public spaces, as well as the diminishing right to the city - and the dissemination of technologies, especially those based on data, algorithms and artificial intelligence (AI). The work moves away both from nostalgic postures of a world without ICTs and from euphoric positions in relation to them, relying on academic and fictional references to construct a set of texts that addresses current philosophical, sociological, architectural, urbanistic and urban issues. Practical experiences, such as technical visits, interviews, lectures, workshops and other activities involving various social agents, also make up the reflections of the work. Finally, the research reflects on an expanded notion of urbanity, which encompasses the idea of space beyond its physical-material proportions, and considers the digital dimension of the city as one of the structuring principles of contemporary urban life. From different perspectives, the work discusses technopolitics, problematizing the ethical, morphological and socio-spatial implications of new technologies.