The goal of this workshop is to work towards a special issue / edited volume on the theme of The City as a License: Design, Rights and Civics in a Blockchain Society. We seek written and visual contributions that explore the opportunities and challenges as well as actual experiments and designs of Digital Ledeger Technologies in civic contexts, from a perspective of urban governance, social justice and the ‘right to the city’.
The City as a License. Implications of Blockchain and Distributed Ledgers for Urban Governance
After the smart city, will the blockchain city now follow? New technologies such as distributed ledgers may herald a new phase for the way digital media and big data are deployed to manage, use and shape public spaces and urban infrastructures. The City as a License is a perspective, which illuminates that development from the starting point of the city as a modern, open community with democratic and inclusive public spaces.
The City as a Licence (NL)
Volgt na de smart city nu de blockchain-stad? Nieuwe technologieën als distributed ledgers (decentraal beheerde databases) luiden mogelijk een nieuwe fase in voor de manier waarop digitale media en big data worden ingezet om publieke ruimtes en stedelijke infrastructuren te beheren, gebruiken en vorm te geven. The City as a License is een perspectief, dat die ontwikkeling belicht vanuit het vertrekpunt van de stad als een moderne, open gemeenschap met democratische en inclusieve publieke ruimtes.
Solar Trade, an energy dashboard and energy sharing marketplace promoting sustainable energy usage.
In May 2020 Students of the minor User Experience Design were involved in a Circulate student project. They were asked to engage a fictional community in balancing energy usage and production by visualising the (private and collective) usage and availability of energy.
The Blockchain and the Commons: Dilemmas in the Design of Local Platforms
In this paper for CHI20 we introduce a framework of three mechanisms and six ‘design dilemmas’ that can aid in balancing conflicting values in the design of such local platforms for commons-based resource management.
An interactive light system and dashboard for a Sustainably Powered Kitchen
In 2020, Circulate collaborated with a group of students from the HvA Master Digital Design on a 4-week design project, which had Enki Energy as its main client. For this assignment, the students were asked to create a data visualisation tool that facilitated the use and maintenance of the Enki Energy’s biodigester used in a communal kitchen at a housing complex in Amersfoort.
ANNA a speculative film by Anna Brynskov
ALEXANDRA is a short film made in order to spark conversation with people about how to design digital systems in a good and humane way. The film aims to open up a critical and nuanced conversation on blockchain algorithms for sustainable, local communities with the people of Amsterdam.