Online/On-site

Online/On-site – 在线/在现场

EXTENTS (McLain Clutter and Cyrus Peñarroyo)

This project studies the digital divide in Detroit, focusing on Internet access in the city’s most disenfranchised neighborhoods. As investment is poured into development downtown, residents in marginalized neighborhoods lack access to digital infrastructure and the necessary skills to use information effectively once connected. Indeed, Detroit has the lowest rate of Internet connectivity in the United States, excluding thousands of people from the opportunities for education, employment, and belonging afforded to those with the ability to get online. This condition is exacerbated by the economic precarity of many Detroiters, the high costs of residentially-based internet access, and uneven broadband internet service provision. Referred to as “digital redlining,” some view disinvestment in digital infrastructure for less affluent, non-white communities as commensurate to discrimination. Many of those affected are school-aged youths who need the Internet to complete their homework, submit job applications, or socialize with their classmates. While most teens have access to the Internet via schools, libraries, or public Wi-Fi connections, they remain at a severe disadvantage if their households are not online. As various grassroots organizations work to build a robust digital ecosystem, and urban development is increasingly influenced by internet accessibility, what kinds of spaces emerge under this evolving techno-infrastructure? If the Internet fosters a more complex sense of belonging, how might the built environment reconfigure to promote inclusion? How does internet access challenge conventional understandings of public and private space? How do teenagers in the iGeneration occupy or navigate a metropolis that is significantly offline? If citizens are emboldened by digital technologies, how might a community-driven network erode hierarchies commonly found in the city?

To address these questions, this project combines publicly available data with interviews of high school students to map digital access and exclusion across Detroit’s neighborhoods, identifying sites for urban design scenarios that propose innovative ways to connect physically and virtually. The project results in detailed strategies through which urban design might aid in the development of strong community mesh networks across Detroit for internet access. Those same strategies are then applied to three sites within Shenzhen, chosen because the pervasiveness of digital technology and mobile internet access could strengthen each location’s cultural and economic infrastructure.

这个项目以美国底特律的城市没落居民社区为对象，研究其数字化发展的分隔现状。随着投资商对市中心的侧重投资，住在城市边缘地带的居民缺少对城市数字化基础设施的接触， 或充分运用网上信息的能力。底特律市民上网率在美国排名倒数，市民家用网水平趋低的局面正在被家庭贫困、昂贵网费和城市内不平等的宽带基础设施所激化。“数字红线”的概念因此产生，它描述了对数字化基础设施缺乏系统性投资的现象，也影射歧视性住房服务。被影响的人大多数为在校学生。虽然年轻人可以通过学校、图书馆或公共Wi-Fi连接上网，但在家上网难依然很不方便。由于草根和政府都致力于建设强健的数字化和谐体系，城市发展也逐渐被宽带和无线网络设施所影响，那在这样的技术基础设施支持下，会出现怎样的新型平等空间呢？上网设施的设计又会对传统的公共和私密空间带来怎样的挑战？当没有网络连接的时候，数字时代下的年轻人如何在大都市空间活动？如果当代市民已被网络科技附体，那以社区为单位的网络结构能在多大程度上消解已有的社会阶级呢？

这个项目结合地理空间数据现状和对当地高中生的采访，在地图上标识出底特律市社区级别的上网/非上网点，从中锁定设计基地，提出新的建设网络基础设施的城市设计概念，和建立网状网络连接的详细策略。为加强经济文化基础设施的建设，基于数字化科技普及的现状，此设计手法也将运用于深圳市的三个基地。

Credits:

McLain Clutter, Cyrus Peñarroyo