Envisaging Dataist Modernity - (Science Studies) by Nicolas Zehner (Paperback)

About the Book

Who gets to imagine datafied visions of the future city (region) and why is it important to look at universities as powerful urban stakeholders?

Book Synopsis

The Edinburgh and South-East Scotland City Region Deal (CRD) constitutes a long-term infrastructure investment that is designed to transform the city region into the »Data Capital of Europe«. Drawing on science and technology studies and urban studies, Nicolas Zehner explores the question of who gets to imagine what kinds of urban-regional futures by investigating the emergence and early implementation of this large, multi-stakeholder urban-regional development project. Demonstrating the growing influence of universities in shaping desirable futures, he introduces the notion of "dataist modernity" to characterise the contemporary relationship between science, technology and urban planning.

About the Author

Nicolas Zehner (Dr.) is a postdoctoral researcher at the Collaborative Research Center 1265 »Re-Figuration of Spaces« at Technische Universität Berlin, as well as associated researcher at Weizenbaum Institute. He holds a PhD in Sociology from the University of Edinburgh. In the academic year 2021/2022, Zehner was a visiting research fellow at Harvard University's Program on Science, Technology and Society. His research investigates the co-constitutive relationship between scientific knowledge production and urban development with a particular focus on higher education institutions.