About Informational City

Informational City explores the intersection between the information revolution and global urbanisation, affecting all aspects of how cities operate and thrive. Advances in technology and interaction present challenges and opportunities for theeconomy, government and social cohesion, as shown by the growth of mobile commerce on the one hand and the use of social networks in Arab revolutions and English riots on the other. The transformative nature of information technology affects all city-dwellers, changing the way in which our social economy is both delivered and received, elevating informed choice by the individual into the key agent of change for our cities of the future.

Informational City began as an annual lecture which is a popular fixture in the calendar of the London Design Festival. This year we are extending our remit to building an online dialogue and planning further events. Information about our plans will be regularly posted on this website and you can register for updates here.

The Informational City initiative was named as a tribute to the work of social scientist Professor Manuel Castells Oliván, author of the Information Age trilogy, whose 1989 book The Informational City continues to provide a visionary intellectual context for understanding the challenges and opportunities today.