editors note: This is the authoritative version of the Automagic City Manifesto. Published with kind permission from the authors. The first published version had one sentence altered for it to work better in the context of the Urban ICT Arena communication.
illustration Erika Lockne, copyright Erika Lockne and Cubby’s Going Home
Welcome to the Automagic City
Science fiction author Arthur C Clarke once said that extremely advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic. Today, technology is so complex that even those clever enough to get how it works will understand only a fraction of everything it can do. Some people even claim that technology can do anything you could possibly imagine. This isn’t true, but it certainly is true that advanced technology can do many things you never would have thought possible – a lot like magic.
The difference between tech and magic is that many of us lack the tools for imagining the workings of tech and all that is possible. With magic, it’s the other way around – we can easily imagine how we would use magic to fulfill our wishes but not how magic is created or controlled. So why don’t we simply use our magic mental tools and apply them on tech? One step in this direction would be to stop using terms such as smart, connected, viable, expanding and sustainable when we talk about the kind of city we want to live in.
illustration Erika Lockne, copyright Erika Lockne and Cubby’s Going Home
We can begin this journey by envisioning the Automagic City.
The Automagic City – The Vision
The Automagic City is a city that feels the presence of its inhabitants and their current mood.
The Automagic City is a city where you can talk to lamp posts and tell them to stop shining into your bedroom, and they actually stop.
The Automagic City is a city where its streets will lead you to a shelter or to the free community café when you need it most.
The Automagic City is a city where things happen because you want or need them to.
The Automagic City is a city where automagic devices help you make use of your skills to create value – if you want this.
The Automagic City is a city where noisy machines respect your wishes when you ask them to be quiet.
The Automagic City is a city where, by automagic coincidence, you come in contact more often with the people you need.
The Automagic City is a city where there is no such thing as bad-tasting coffee.
The Automagic City is a city that can create new automagic features when you wish for them.
The Automagic City is a city that continuously and automagically levels up to make your life easier and not boring.
The Automagic City is a city that feels like a living, magical being.
The Automagic City – The Questions
· How can we make the Automagic City cyber secure for all citizens?
· How can citizens become wizards in the Automagic City?
· How can we find the most affordable way to create the Automagic City?
· How can we retrofit existing cities with automagic?
· How can we do this NOW?
© Rasmus Larsson, Petra Dalunde & Erika Lockne