The Augmented City

The perfect city is a vibrant organism of data and information, sensors and actuators, actions and reactions, generated by users and environment both. Ten thousand years ago the city was invented as an aide for evolving communities. It bought together the top innovators of the day. Now once again, the city must become a device for augmenting our life - hence the title of this book. As technological immersion increases, our cities must adapt and be responsive to our behavioural changes. In The Augmented City, everyday data-capturing devices monitor rainfall, pollution, water, energy, natural light and traffic. They process this information in real time, creating a seamless pre-planning system that will enable the optimisation of resources. Giving collective access to this information will allow the public to synchronise their lives to the surrounding environment.