Groupe Chronos

US and other state - or even local - governments have recently started to see a value of «opening their data». The idea behind is to provide an opportunity to any - must be computer skilled though - citizen to access public data, dig and create services out of it. As if these governments structures were years of conglomerated strata of data, turned from decomposed anonymous information in to valuable coal-like bytes. Mimicking the new industrial age, all these piles of data stored since ages are suddenly available to industrialization and added value transformation.

This movement finds its roots in the core values of Internet - openness and freedom - as well in actions and protests that have taken place in the urban public space. Such movement as Reclaim The Street, born in UK, or Flashmobs, from USA, have made their way through all western developed cities. And these hacking events grow ideas for new ways to invade the space, like the recent ParkingDay. (Read an excellent article about this here)

When I had the opportunity to travel in chinese cities last year, I've seen similar views as John Offenbach's pictures of the mono-layered urbanism : one place, one function, one distribution circuit. Everything looks well thought and calibrated for the use it is designed for. Everywhere large board display the slick vision of the future and hide the messy state of the reality. From that perspective, I understood that all the hacking activities I've mentioned above are meant to bring back a multi-layered urbanism, with pop-up activities and spontaneous ownership.

But what's the interest of it then ? As Rachel Sterne sees it, «City is a platform». When I did run a project in St Denis (Northern Suburb of Paris), allowing any citizen to imagine, write and build anonymously their own advertisement campaign, displayed all over the city muppies, I had the same feeling : city is a platform. But it is not an open one and it is lacking services.

Interestingly, the social web and the mobile app model have bring a new character in this story : the geek. Geek versus Hippie, are there any similarities ? I won't develop more than this post from La mutinerie, but yes, even if the geek and the hippie are dreaming of a better world, they are different : one of these differences is that the hippie rejects the system while the geek hacks it. And like the Foursquare Hackaton, shall we set up an urban space Hackaton ?

To go further in that topic, here is a collection of interesting urban stories of growing asian cities :

Indonesia's Biggest City Gets its First Bicycle Lane

Despite previously prioritising cars by building inner city roads, the Indonesian capital city of Jakarta recently set a new milestone towards a healthier and more liveable city by opening its first dedicated bicycle lane.

Five Ideas from Asia for Creating Future Cities

Where better to look for ideas on how to handle the challenges associated with urban evolution than Asia - a region (quite rightly) synonymous with rapidly-growing cities. Here's five of our favourite urban innovations from Asia with global potential.

Japanese Architecture Takes Green Roofs to a Whole New Level - Literally

If you require a little inspiration of the green roof kind, stop ogling the neighbour's sedum-topped shed and start Google Earthing the ACROS building in Fukuoka, Japan, instead.

Humanization / Naturalization - A Photo Essay of Bishkek in Ruins

Bishkek is known for two things: blight and tragedy. But is there another way of viewing the city? Christopher Schwartz explores the interaction between aging Soviet architecture, Kyrgyz urbanization and invading nature in this photo-essay.

The Stream that Revitalised Seoul

In the South Korean city of Seoul, an area which was once designed for automobiles has been transformed into a vibrant public space. And whilst it was one of the most expensive urban design projects in the city's history, it has been wildly successful.

DomestiCity: A Photo Essay on Domestic Activities in Dense Urban Areas

Ho Chi Minh City's residents have developed some ingenious practicalities to cope with the city's logistics. This photo essay explores the imaginative ways in which people negotiate the use of their limited living quarters.

Displacing People to Make Space for Cars - Is India Evicting the Wrong Squatters?

More than 1 million of Delhi's residents have been displaced through demolition of slum neighborhoods over the last 10 years. At the same time, India's government continues to construct roads instead of transit or pedestrian infrastructure, losing public space in the process.

The Non-Intentional Landscape of Tokyo

Like all organic systems, cities fare better without central planning. Additive, centrifugal, Tokyo starts with individual parts and expands. Proliferates. Undefined. Unclear centers. Looser and ambiguous, freedom is valued over regularity of form and clarity of outline.

Crédits Photo : John Offenbach / Numen / ParkingDay

Marc Chataigner est ethno-designer. Vous pouvez suivre sa veille et ses publications sur oranginaaaa.Tumblr.com, et le contacter sur flavors.me/marcchataigner ou twitter.com/marcchataigner.