In this fictional Town Hall meeting we will imagine robotics and AI have taken over the essential services of our cities. There will be four speakers who present the advantages as well as the negative aspects of robotics/AI in our cities in relation to a fictional planning proposal. We will explore how robotics/AI could impact our future experiences, relationships and values.
The purpose of the meeting is to decide whether the (fictional) planning proposal should be approved or rejected. After each talk, we will encourage both sides of the town hall to discuss the issues presented with people nearby and ask the speakers questions. Throughout the evening, the audience will discuss the pros and cons of the proposal and will make the final decision by vote.
The speakers
Anastasia Vikhornova (Designer and Researcher)
Charlie Moloney (AI Journalist)
Becky Jones (Robotics/AI Specialist)
Euan Mills (City Planner)
About Future Cities Catapult
Future Cities Catapult is the global centre of excellence that advances urban innovation, grows UK companies, and makes cities better. They bring together businesses, universities and city leaders so that they can work with each other to solve the problems that cities face, now and in the future.
From our Urban Innovation Centre in London, they provide world-class facilities and expertise to support the development of new products and services, as well as opportunities to collaborate with others, test ideas and develop business models.
They help innovators turn ingenious ideas into working prototypes that can be tested in real urban settings. Then, once they're proven, they help spread them to cities across the world to improve quality of life, strengthen economies and protect the environment.
Their Cities Lab provides data analysis, modelling and visualisation capabilities to understand and elucidate city problems, while on-the-ground demonstrators in our network of collaborating cities provide opportunities for testing new approaches in-situ. Combined, they help them discover which new ideas can have the biggest impact on our urban environments.
By bringing together the UK's top architects, engineers, designers, academics and business professionals, they can help them transform cities on a global scale. They strengthen the UK's ability to turn excellent urban innovations into commercial reality.
Currently, their Future of Planning programme is creating a more transparent, data driven and digitally enabled planning system. They’re collaborating with the EU on iSCAPE which is a project to develop and evaluate an integrated strategy for air pollution control in European cities. And their work with Belfast City Council is harnessing new technologies to increase revenue from business rates across the city and provide better services to its citizens.
Booking essential: Reserve your place now
This event is aimed towards a diverse audience; from professional practitioners, graduates, young designers to London Design Festival goers (designers, buyers and members of the public with an interest in design), and intrigued designers who want to find out how to incorporate or think about service design within a city context. It might also appeal to more experienced designers who want to rekindle excitement for their work and talk with a younger generation of service designers.
The venue is wheelchair accessible.
