Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2022 Jan 6;29(1):13-19.
doi: 10.1080/10630732.2021.2004067. eCollection 2022.

Programming Nature as Infrastructure in the Smart Forest City

Jennifer Gabrys  1
Affiliations

Programming Nature as Infrastructure in the Smart Forest City

Jennifer Gabrys. J Urban Technol. .

Abstract

Smart cities typically involve the digitalization of transport and buildings, energy and communications. Yet urban natures are also becoming increasingly digitalized, whether through processes of monitoring, automation, mitigation, or augmentation. This text considers what "splintering urbanisms" materialize through programming nature as infrastructure. By focusing specifically on smart urban forests, I suggest that the management logics of smart infrastructures attempt to program and transform vegetation and its ecologies into uniquely efficient and responsive urban organisms. In the process, these programs of efficiency have the potential to exacerbate extractive economies and social inequalities that amplify and materialize through the "Internet of nature."

Keywords: Smart cities; digital infrastructure; green infrastructure; smart environments; smart forests; sustainable cities.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

References

    1. Barber D. and Putalik E., “Forest, Tower, City: Rethinking the Green Machine Aesthetic,” Harvard Design Magazine 45 (2018) 234–243.
    1. Berlant L., “The Commons: Infrastructures for Troubling Times,” Environment and Planning D: Society and Space 34: 3 (2016) 393–419.
    1. Blok A., Nakazora M., and Winthereik B. R., “Infrastructuring Environments,” Science as Culture 25: 1 (2016) 1–22.
    1. Carse A., “Nature as Infrastructure: Making and Managing the Panama Canal Watershed,” Social Studies of Science 42: 4 (2012) 539–563.
    1. Fletcher R., Dressler W. H., Anderson Z. R., and Büscher B., “Natural Capital Must Be Defended: Green Growth as Neoliberal Biopolitics,” The Journal of Peasant Studies 46: 5 (2019) 1068–1095.

LinkOut - more resources