A City Is Not A Computer:

Other Urban Intelligences with Professor Shannon Mattern

Here’s a great interview. I was able to speak with Shannon Mattern—Professor of Anthropology at the New School for Social Research—about her book, called “The City Is Not A Computer: Other Urban Intelligences.” This book, released in the US in August 2021, examines what the “city” is (or isn’t), who the city is for, and what makes a city “smart” (or doesn’t).

The book was published at a precarious time, not only for publishing but also for cities themselves. COVID-19 had decimated budgets and tourism dollars, and commuting for work or for fun permanently changed, and continues to evolve. The city was no longer a place for commerce and industry. COVID, in many ways, cocooned the city into a husk of an economic place. What directions could it go?

But we haven’t lost the thread—at least not totally because a city is no…