Federico Caprotti
2016 - present: Associate Professor in Human Geography, University of Exeter
2016 - 2016: Reader in Cities & Sustainability, King's College London
2013 - 2016: Senior Lecturer in Cities & Sustainability, King's College London
2010 - 2013: Lecturer in Human Geography, Plymouth University
2007 - 2010: Lecturer in Human Geography, University College London (UCL)
2005 - 2007: Lecturer in Human Geography, St. Peter's College, Oxford University
2004 - 2005: Lecturer in Human Geography, University of Leicester
2001 - 2004: DPhil Geography, Oxford University
2016 - 2016: Reader in Cities & Sustainability, King's College London
2013 - 2016: Senior Lecturer in Cities & Sustainability, King's College London
2010 - 2013: Lecturer in Human Geography, Plymouth University
2007 - 2010: Lecturer in Human Geography, University College London (UCL)
2005 - 2007: Lecturer in Human Geography, St. Peter's College, Oxford University
2004 - 2005: Lecturer in Human Geography, University of Leicester
2001 - 2004: DPhil Geography, Oxford University
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Papers by Federico Caprotti
Methods: The paper is based on empirical research analysed through a theoretical framework articulating the pathways through which energy insecurity influences various dimensions of wellbeing, encompassing economic, physical, social, and environmental aspects. By applying this framework to our empirical research, the paper reveals the intricate interplay between neighbourhood factors, housing conditions, social processes, and economic insecurities, shedding light on both the challenges and opportunities associated with off-grid energy interventions.
Results: The understanding of wellbeing presented in the paper is based on what we term the energy-wellbeing-informality nexus. Understanding the nexus necessitates: (a) moving past universalist and technocratic understandings of wellbeing, and towards a relational and networked basis for wellbeing analysis; (b) moving beyond conventional narratives of off-grid electrification as mere technical fixes, emphasizing the importance of recognizing informal settlements as sites of innovation and experimentation; (c) understanding the multi-sectoral nature of energy-related wellbeing impacts, extending beyond energy provision to encompass broader dimensions such as education, health, and social cohesion.
Discussion: The paper not only advances theoretical understanding but also offers practical insights for policymakers and practitioners. It emphasizes the need for context-sensitive policymaking that acknowledges the complexities of informal settlements and fosters innovative approaches to energy service provision. By integrating energy interventions into broader development strategies and adopting a multi-sectoral perspective, stakeholders can work towards more equitable and resilient solutions that enhance the overall wellbeing of residents in informal urban contexts.
in urban contexts. These technologies and systems include
algorithms, robotics, drones, Autonomous Vehicles (AVs) and
autonomous systems that can collectively be labelled as Artificial
Intelligence (AI). Critical debates have recognized that these
various forms of AI do not merely layer onto existing urban
infrastructures, forms of management and practices of everyday
life. Instead, they have social and material power: they perform
work, anticipate and assess risks and opportunities, are aberrant or
glitchy, cause accidents, and make new demands on humans as
well as the design of cities. And yet, urban scholars have only
recently started to engage with research on urban AI and to begin
articulating research directions for urban development beyond the
current focus on smart cities. To enhance this engagement, this
intervention explores three sets of questions: what is distinctive
about this novel way of thinking about and doing cities; what are
the emerging mutual interdependencies and interrelations
between AI and their urban contexts; and what are the
consequent challenges and opportunities for urban governance. In
closing, we outline research directions shaped around new
research questions raised by the emergence of urban AI.
Methods: The paper is based on empirical research analysed through a theoretical framework articulating the pathways through which energy insecurity influences various dimensions of wellbeing, encompassing economic, physical, social, and environmental aspects. By applying this framework to our empirical research, the paper reveals the intricate interplay between neighbourhood factors, housing conditions, social processes, and economic insecurities, shedding light on both the challenges and opportunities associated with off-grid energy interventions.
Results: The understanding of wellbeing presented in the paper is based on what we term the energy-wellbeing-informality nexus. Understanding the nexus necessitates: (a) moving past universalist and technocratic understandings of wellbeing, and towards a relational and networked basis for wellbeing analysis; (b) moving beyond conventional narratives of off-grid electrification as mere technical fixes, emphasizing the importance of recognizing informal settlements as sites of innovation and experimentation; (c) understanding the multi-sectoral nature of energy-related wellbeing impacts, extending beyond energy provision to encompass broader dimensions such as education, health, and social cohesion.
Discussion: The paper not only advances theoretical understanding but also offers practical insights for policymakers and practitioners. It emphasizes the need for context-sensitive policymaking that acknowledges the complexities of informal settlements and fosters innovative approaches to energy service provision. By integrating energy interventions into broader development strategies and adopting a multi-sectoral perspective, stakeholders can work towards more equitable and resilient solutions that enhance the overall wellbeing of residents in informal urban contexts.
in urban contexts. These technologies and systems include
algorithms, robotics, drones, Autonomous Vehicles (AVs) and
autonomous systems that can collectively be labelled as Artificial
Intelligence (AI). Critical debates have recognized that these
various forms of AI do not merely layer onto existing urban
infrastructures, forms of management and practices of everyday
life. Instead, they have social and material power: they perform
work, anticipate and assess risks and opportunities, are aberrant or
glitchy, cause accidents, and make new demands on humans as
well as the design of cities. And yet, urban scholars have only
recently started to engage with research on urban AI and to begin
articulating research directions for urban development beyond the
current focus on smart cities. To enhance this engagement, this
intervention explores three sets of questions: what is distinctive
about this novel way of thinking about and doing cities; what are
the emerging mutual interdependencies and interrelations
between AI and their urban contexts; and what are the
consequent challenges and opportunities for urban governance. In
closing, we outline research directions shaped around new
research questions raised by the emergence of urban AI.
Contributors also examine how the city, far from being a passive recipient of new technologies, is influencing and reframing AI through subtle processes of co-constitution. The book advances three main contributions and arguments:
First, it provides empirical evidence of the emergence of a post-smart trajectory for cities in which new material and decision-making capabilities are being assembled through multiple AIs.
Second, it stresses the importance of understanding the mutually constitutive relations between the new experiences enabled by AI technology and the urban context.
Third, it engages with the concepts required to clarify the opaque relations that exist between AI and the city, as well as how to make sense of these relations from a theoretical perspective.
Artificial Intelligence and the City offers a state-of-the-art analysis and review of AI urbanism, from its roots to its global emergence. It cuts across several disciplines and will be a useful resource for undergraduates and postgraduates in the fields of urban studies, urban planning, geography, architecture, urban design, science and technology studies, sociology and politics.
Inside Smart Cities provides real world evidence on how local authorities, small and medium enterprises, corporations, utility providers and civil society groups are creating smart cities at the neighbourhood, city and regional scales. Twenty-one empirically detailed case studies from the Global North and South, ranging from Cape Town, Stockholm, and Abu Dhabi to Philadelphia, Hong Kong, and Santiago, illustrate the multiple and diverse incarnations of smart urbanism. The contributors draw on ideas from urban studies, geography, urban planning, science and technology studies and innovation studies to go beyond the rhetoric of technological innovation and reveal the political, social and physical implications of digitising the built environment.
Collectively, the practices of smart urbanism raise fundamental questions about the sustainability, liveability and resilience of the cities in the future. The findings are relevant to academics, students, practitioners and urban stakeholders who are questioning how urban innovation relates to politics and place.
urban development paradigm. Premised on notions of increased efficiency
through digitalisation and on visions of transitions towards more high-tech,
added value economic futures, smart urban visions have become attractive to urban stakeholders in a wide range of geographical contexts. From New York City to Shanghai and from Adelaide to Santiago, smart urban futures are presented as utopian urban prospects for the near future, frictionless and technology-enabled urban environments that are supposedly just around the corner. The urban imaginations associated with smart urbanism are often clear, if superficial. They exist in consultants’ presentations, glossy reports, websites, and policy and corporate documents and brochures (Söderström et al. 2014). Indeed, there exists a
global, or at least international, set of discourses on the smart city, and the actors involved in producing, discussing and shaping these discourses are familiar, from technology corporations to high-flying governments to multinational consultancies and place branding executives (McNeill 2017).
At the same time, smart urbanism is often described as the next step in the
evolution of sustainable urbanism (de Jong et al. 2015, Haarstad 2017, Martin et al. forthcoming). Flagship developments such as Masdar City in the United Arab Emirates (Cugurullo 2016) and Songdo in South Korea (Shwayri 2013, Yigitcanlar and Lee 2014) have inspired a multitude of less prominent projects around the world that use technological innovation to realise more sustainable urban futures. And smart technologies feed into sustainable urban development in multiple ways: by making cities more efficient to operate; by identifying and reducing environmental pollution; and by making them more democratic and equitable.
This book uses numerous case studies, analysing topical issues ranging from city cycling in India, to green spaces in China, to the use of community-led energy generation projects in post-Fukushima Japan. Containing contributions from an international team of scholars, it also takes a multi-disciplinary approach and draws on examples from a wide range of countries, including China, India, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Singapore and the United Arab Emirates. Ultimately, by providing a comprehensive discussion of the broader debates around the shape of sustainable urbanism, it demonstrates that Asia is one of the most active regions in terms of the development of sustainable city strategies.
Tackling the contemporary issues of key importance for sustainability, such as property markets, migration and transport, this book will appeal to students and scholars of Urban Geography, Sustainability, Environmental Studies and Asian studies.