Abstract
While the smart city agenda is critiqued for its focus on technology and business led solutions, a new approach to design has been introduced: nonanthropocentric design aims to decenter the human as the focus of design. We build on relevant works in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) through discussing and comparing relevant theories in the social sciences and by analyzing design examples. This approach to HCI is necessary if humanity is to meet the challenges of the Anthropocene, the era in which human activity affects the Earth on a geological scale.
About the authors
Anna Luusua, architect, gained her M.Sc. in 2011 and her PhD in 2016. In her PhD research, Dr. Luusua focused on urban inhabitants' emplaced experiences of digitally augmented public urban places in a northern smart city context, specifically public urban displays and intelligent urban lighting. Further areas of interest include participation in design and research, theories of experience, and interdisciplinary research.
Oulu School of Architecture, P.O. Box 4100, University of Oulu, 90014 Oulu, Finland
Johanna Ylipulli, cultural anthropologist, is working as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Oulu, at the Center for Ubiquitous Computing. She is specialized in interdisciplinary research that combines perspectives from design anthropology, STS, HCI and urban studies. Her current research focuses on smart cities, and virtual reality and augmented reality technologies in urban spaces.
Center for Ubiquitous Computing, University of Oulu, Faculty of Information Technology and Electrical Engineering, P.O. Box 4500, 90014 Oulu, Finland
Emilia Rönkkö, architect, is a docent at the Oulu School of architecture, University of Oulu. Her field of expertise is knowledge base in urban planning. Rönkkö's research work is focused on spatial analyses, evidence-informed planning, and strategic design. She is currently working for the City of Kuopio.
Oulu School of Architecture, P.O. Box 4100, University of Oulu, 90014 Oulu, Finland; and Real Estate Services, City of Kuopio, Finland
Acknowledgement
We would like to gratefully acknowledge the support of the Open Innovation Platform project (A70202) funded by the ERDF and the City of Oulu under the Six City Strategy program, and the COMBAT project (293389) funded by the Strategic Research Council at the Academy of Finland.
©2017 Walter de Gruyter Berlin/Boston
