Citizen interactions in Smart cities: The Zone of Possibility. iCity Conference keynote, Malta 2016

1. Citizen interactions in Smart cities:
The Zone of Possibility
iCity Conference keynote
John Cook, CMIR, UWE Bristol
John2.Cook@uwe.ac.uk
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2. Structure
1. Introduction
2. Zone of Possibility (ZoP)
3. ZoP Cinefest
4. ZoP Stokes Croft
5. Questions & Discussion
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3. 1. Introduction
• Almei (2014) on hybrid city
– “when the physical and the digital dimensions of reality blend a
hybrid reality is formed”
• We would agree insomuch as an examination is needed
of the co-evolution of hybrid concepts such as
– ‘digital-physical’
– ‘power-control’
• Development of citizen led ‘hybrid cities’ in which social
web technologies mediate
– readiness for digitally mediated work-based practice
– urban regeneration in what we term the Zone of Possibility (ZoP)
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4. 1. Introduction
• Work coming out of the EC funded Learning Layers
project
• Worked with the health sector in UK and creative sector
in Bristol
• Co-designing Open Source hybrid realities in a Zone of
Possibility (ZoP)
• Design and Research Challenge:
– In the context of socio-technical environments, how can the design
process and design thinking advance or bridge our social capital?
• For more details http://goo.gl/AX3vsR
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5. 5
2. Zone of Possibility

6. • Helping citizens participate with each other in groups (a Zone) calls
for orchestrating social supports (via navigation and bridging aids)
so that citizens can benefit from the ideas of others (Possibility).
• The generic ZoP app allows you set up a Digital Public Space using
Android devices
• Users can record video clips, annotate points of interest at a specific
time and location in a frame, share and discuss
• In this way interesting findings and events at work or in a community
project can become the focus of situated conversations
• The ZoP app allows users and groups to operate in what we call a
Zone of Possibility or ZoP
• It is essentially a peer-to-peer tool that engages with a wide range of
challenges from social regeneration, to work place problem solving,
heritage and culture, smart cities and urban data
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7. ZoP app
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Generic Zone of Possibility (ZoP) app
Based on Ach So! app,
developed for the
Construction Industry by
Aalto Univerity

8. 3. ZoP app
The ZoP app is currently Andriod based, features
•Capture video
•Play video
•Annotations at key moments in video
•See video details
•Tag video i.e. genre selection
•Upload video to Cloud
•Share video with group
•Discuss video and annotations with group
•Achrails back end web server, soon to be hosted UWE
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9. 9
ZoP app being
used to develop
Cinefest app with
Sarah Sparke
3. ZoP Cinefest

10. Developing readiness for digitally
mediated work-based practice
10http://www.pewinternet.org/2014/03/11/digital-life-in-2025/

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12. 4. ZoP Stokes Croft
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Use of
entrepreneurship
and culture in city
regeneration

13. Field trials Stokes Croft June 2015
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“Telepathic Heights” http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-
gloucestershire-13168713

14. 14
75 cm
The Space next
to the yard
http://www.prsc.org.uk/thespace/

15. 15
Edward William
Godwin
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_William_Godwin
Northampton
Guildhall

16. Vision Statement Stokes Croft app
• Stokes Croft app is based on Zone of Possibility design principle
• It is a digital public space where “community reporters” from the inner city
neighbourhood of Stokes Croft in Bristol can share their stories of social resilience to
create opportunity and urban regeneration through culture
• The Stokes Croft app related website will use these stories to give insights that
influence and inform people and organisations
• Users may consume the media, comment on it or make their own media to develop
an argument or propose an idea

17. • There are a series of questions that must be
answered for the ZoP-SC website to fulfill its role
as a) a zone of possibility for the participants
and b) a learning resource for others
– How should the Zone of Possibility be realized?
– How can a non-authoritative resource be useful as a
learning tool?
– Who will contribute? And, how can we build
participation? The 1-9-90 rule
– Who are the audiences?
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19. Q&A / Discussion
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