A couple of weeks ago at the ICING (Intelligent Cities of the Next Generation) workshop my presentation followed the keynote by Ju Young Byun on the visions and projects in New Songdo, Korea (video of the project). While this Korean master plan is necessary to stretch our imagination, I could not resist in thinking that “Next Generation Cities” are about the “sustainable chaos”, a feature that New Songdo aims at eliminating with technological progress. Understanding the hybrid city of the future obligates not only a trip to the “ubiquitous city” of New Songdo, but also to observe the perpetually collapsing Naples. In other words, quoting Phil Hubbard in Hybrid City:

New technologies do not drive urban change, but are rather caught up in complex networks (or ’socio-technical assemblages’) which incorporate all manner of actants.

Arguably Napoli is a symbol “Next Generation” city, in strong contrast to New Songdo’s polished vision. Photo courtesy of LHOON

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