Knowledge Map: Smart - Cultural City Singapore

Abstract

This report compiles a “Knowledge Map” and “Management Summary” for the Goethe Institute Singapore (GI) on ideas, projects and actors of Smart Cities in Singapore. This report contributes to the discourse on urbanisation, in particular to the intersection and convergence of Smart Cities and Cultural Cities that emerge with the availability of social media data, technology and shifting mode of cultural production. The aim of this report is to provide GI with knowledge to enter this discussion and explore potential projects. It will allow to expand GI’s core mission of supporting German language and culture to a wider definition of cultural engagement and knowledge transfer. Within the context of Singapore, the urban-cultural nexus, its rapid transformation through technology, associated challenges and trends are of particular interest to GI. The “Knowledge Map” will allow GI to identify potential areas for growth and meaningful and strategic engagement within the Smart / Cultural Cities discourse in Singapore that overlap with its focus themes 'cultures of urbanity', 'cultures of participation' and 'forming of the future'. The “Knowledge Map” will allow GI to formulate the right future projects in Singapore with FCL and other institutions in Singapore. The research starts with a short review of the main terminology surrounding Smart / Cultural Cities and illustrates these by examples. It highlights the relevant topics to cultural processes such as: participation and governance, data and technology, liveability, ecology. This goes along with a list of research fields addressed, planned and implemented urban projects, actors and institutions, future events in Singapore. It also observe trends in Singaporean policy, socio-demographic and economic indicators that will impact the discourse in the future. The “Knowledge Map” is based on research and portraits of actors – agencies, industries, academic institutions and activist – in Singapore. The literature review and research on actors gave rise to a list of attributes for Smart / Cultural Cities. These attributes are grouped around the topics of Media, Domain, Scale and Interaction. Actors and attributes form a so called bipartite graph. The underlying graph structure can be analysed by an algorithm developed by the Future Cities Laboratory. The result of this analysis reveals new clusters in the actor-attribute network of the Singapore Smart / Cultural Cities discourse. These clusters will be discussed as potential fields of engagement for GI. The map will be produced as large poster A0 size. Additionally, a “Management Summary” as a sequential discussion of the contents of the “Knowledge Map” complements the report in the format of a PowerPoint presentation of around 20 slides. The presentation zooms-in to existing creative efforts, alternative transformation and modes of cultural production.