|
The ideal city in the Internet
' Internationale Stadt
Internationale Stadt
"In this architecture it is not the material that counts, it's the form of organization"
Leonardo Mosso, Turin 1969 – "The Programmed City" The project "International City" will represent the city as a phenomenon of human development. The city is a gathering point, a point of concentration, a medium for communication and information. With its service offers, it is a social and universal medium that deserves special attention in the context of new media.
The basic approach of our project is not the visualization of city architecture, but the transformation of the lost functionality of a real city into electronic networks. The city in the net will not replace the real city but will add to, widen and change it.
The connective element of this heterogeneous group is the research and usage of the world wide computer network Internet. The Internet with its millions of users and with its absolutely decentralized structure is a social organism that has been growing for many years. The ever- progressing developments of this mass medium have incredible synergetic effects through the people and institutions that inhabit it. As in any other new technological discovery, all possibilities are tried, but the intention and spirit of this experimenting are not always approved of for use by the people.
The basis of our initiative in the environment of a decentralised structure, in the net as well as in cooperation outside the net is the ability to act in a socio-cultural context at the technological and conceptional level.
The idea of social networking is definitely not new, but under the mentioned requirements may have a chance to conduct communicative activity in electronic networks without exclusively monetary goals.
The human being as an active participant instead of consumer is in the center of the "International City". New relations between people will be initiated through the "International City" and will have effect on the every day life of the real city. People will find the already given infrastructure of the Internet which makes communication and exchange of information possible on a global level.
The system is being programmed on the basis of the World Wide Web, so people who are not experienced in working with computers will be able to access it easily. A local structure with digital clubs, newspapers, galleries and many other information resources is the first goal to meet in the global world of the Internet. Larger groups of users will access the "International City" through public terminals. They can also access this system from their homes with minimal financial and technological requirements. In an ideal situation, this network can lead to synergetic effects that can enforce elements of direct democracy [!!!Sic!!!], through the possibility of researching administrative files and voting.
These define the mid-range goals: - easy access to the Internet
- provide information from the user's local surrounding
- provide governmental data from the Berlin senate
- informational and educational services for people who are not interested in the technical dimension of the Internet
- social networking through real-time communication between users in the "International City" and users in other digital cities and the Internet
- search and navigation engines to find requested information that will allow specific viewpoints to the "International City"
- easily created Web "home pages" that are accessible to other inhabitants of the "International City."
- instant interaction between initiators and users of the system
This leads to: - The creative input of the users increasing to a large extent. They will decide the informational content within the "International City".
- New information resources will be generated through social exchange.
- Visitors from the Internet will have an authentic view on the local monitoring situation.
- People will take advantage of the terminals for information and communication.
The "International City" will, in respect to older socioutopic city planning, represent a functional model for a city structure. We are cooperating closely with freenet people and other digital city projects such as "Be Digitate Stad", Amsterdam and "Digital Island", Budapest a.o
email: is@is.in-berlin.de
http://www.is.in-bedin.de/
| 
