Thesis Report; Virtuous City

Virtuous City Manufacturing Open-source Urbanism

I woud like to extend my gratitude to those who were there with me throughout this journey.

Dr Cho Im Sik for her unending support and guidance throughout the course of this thesis. For it is with her wisdom and rigor that constantly steered me back when things got bleak.

Thank you for always believing in me even when I did not.

My mom for her endless support throughout my entire education. Selflessly putting aside everything whenever I am in need of help regardless of her own schedule.

Thank you for your love.

To the dear friends who wholeheartedly offered their help in whatever way they could and who were always there despite of my absence.

Thank you for being there.

Virtuous City investigates the evolving qualities of urbanity in today’s society where data has become a tool for security and capitalistic agendas.

The proposal elucidates the potentials of surveillance capitalism through the materialization of open-source urbanism into a city network. Elevated public realms form an integrated network to facilitate the manufacturing and consuming of urban activities facilitated by emerging 3D printing technologies.

11 20 3 4

not if but when?

the paradox of securitisaiton

pseudo-public spaces

manufacturing open source urbanism

10 n o t i f b u t w h e n

The dismemberment of terror groups in the Middle-East has shifted its focus to establish a stronghold in Southeast Asia. Singapore’s ecconomic prowess and status as a globalised city state has triggered a rise in terror threat levels.

As elaboarted by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, K. Shanmugam, the increasing presence of terror related activities in the region has called for Singapore to strengthen it’s security measures as it is now not a matter of, if terror strikes, but when it will happen (Today 2018).

What were once spaces of interaction and coalesce are transforming into tools for scrutiny and control.

The rise of transnational terrorism has heralded a shift in security responses as governments across the world scramble to fortify its cities. Anti-terrorism measures are gradually being conceived as fundamental and permanent features to safeguard the built-environment against evolving tactics of the Postmodern Terrorist.

The intrinsic naturae of global cities a melting pot for diverse social groups, key financial and political installations - inherently provides ideal conditions to attack, weaken and terrify.

Increased access to technology transcneds the dangers further by enabling radicalisation to fester under the radar (Leopold 2016), promoting sporadic or individual attacks on public spaces for maximum impact.

Growing in line with this new modus operandi comes a surge in the securitisaiton and miliatrisation of ‘everyday’ sites (Khusrav 2011), inately redefining urbanism in cities around the globe.

Scholars such as Coaffee, Briggs, and, Marcuse, have begun disputing the long term effectiveness of these measrues and it ability to alter the urban fabric.

Spain

Germany

France

England

Terror Strikes 2013 - 2018 Macro Micro

GERMANY

FRANCE

SPAIN

ENGLAND

MACRO MESO MICRO

Terror Strikes 2013 - 2018 Extended Fied of Coordination Targeted Locations

Developments in counter-terrorism measures are however, transcending the boundaries of privacy, with invisible surveillance measures flooding every inch of the urban sphere to track and analyse each citizen’s data.

As humanity progresses towards the 4th Industrial Revoluition, information has manifested beyond the scope of security to form an integral part of society. In this age of hyperconnectivity and convenience, the digital economy has redefined the conception of traditional urban activities and business transactions.

What would the future of cities be in marrying the requirements of surveillance capitalism and security?

Is there a priority of one over the other while fear and urbaism are at war?

New modes of attacks have inevitably raised new levels of ‘urban vulnerability’ and consequently, new counter-terrorism measures (Coaffee 2009; Postgate 1992). The free-flowing city gets disrupted while every action of its citizens are surveilled and policing of the urban space becomes the norm.

Cities plagued by the threat of imminent attacks are adopting physical and digital security measures in an attempt to maintain the status quo. The very same tools used to protect the city are pervading into the public sphere.

As Marcuse argues, security has become the justification for measures that comprises the “core of urban and political life from the physical barricading of space to the social barricading of democratic activity” (Coaffee 2003).

“

The problem is that counter-terrorist measures, when fully implemented, contorts urban cores as ‘functioning entities’, reducing the use of public space, and, alienating individuals; leading to new counter-urbanisation trends amongst businesses for ‘space and security’.

Coaffee 2009; Marcuse 2009; Vidler 2001

2

t h e paradox o f securitisation

Securitisation has long been an existential element of cities dating back to the medieval age; where people gathered within city walls for protection against natural elements or foes (Coaffee 2009).

This impasse further questions the sustainability of urbanity in globalised cities; where security and surveillance has become deeply entrenched within the construct of its society.

Contemporary cities of today, however, are facing the threats from within.

Drawing on the notion that fear perpetuates fear, the urban fabric, society, and its security mechanisms forms a symbiotic relationship that engenders the ‘militarisation’ of the public sphere (Coaffee 2003); homogenizing the urban fabric, de-democratises civic spaces and ultimately, stratifying social groups.

This thesis in turn, seeks to investigate the evolving qualities of urbanity, where data has beccome a tool for security and capitalistic agendas. The proposal elucidates the potentials of surveillance capitalism through the materialization of an open-source urbanism.

The paradoxical relatonship between safety and livability comes forth through 3 main recurring themes.

• Form Follows Function • Citizens as Passive Spectators • Rings of Exclusivity

It pushes the capabilities of 3d printing to formualte an infrastrucutre for the procurement and consumption of future urban activities.

FORM FOLLOWS FEAR Coaffee argues that the need for protection is a reaction to the perpetuation of fear amongst urban dwellers, “with people in areas percevied to be at risk increasingly constructing defensive enclaves to protect themselves”.

Following the anthrax attack in New York in 2001, corporate firms in London increased chemical defensive measures to reinforce safety within the workplace to ensure the continuance of business operations (Briggs 2005).

Fortifying the city manifests further from the huge role corporate giants have towards the economic stability of any country,

asserting their dominance to influence urban planning policies during this state of instability.

While coaffee suggests that these ‘Urban Fortresses’ are a reaction to consumer preferences, governments are actively urging the cooperation and pooling of resources for added securitisation (Republic of Singapore 2017).

Security measures could instead, manifest into forms of control, and, power to grant access falls into the hands of private companies as planning guidlines once drawn up becomes difficult to withdraw (Coaffee 2009).

“

“Urban spaces gets reduced to no more than a city tableau, dissipating the informal quality of the ‘urban drama’ to a monotonous, monofunctional entitiy”.

De Cauter 2004

CITIZENS AS PASSIVE SPECTATORS Adopting military-grade security into the principles of governance, design and urban planning (Briggs 2005) removes the ‘vibrant democracy’ of civic spaces, ordering a regulated form of movement and access (Coaffee 2003).

The city has become the battlefield in the ‘War on Terror’, pitting imminent terror strikes against counter-terrorism measures in an endless pursuit for legitimacy, while those caught in between the crossfire face drastic changes ahead.

Advancements in technology further questions the ethical and democratic accoundatibility of digital surveillance, adding yet another dimension to this discourse on securitisaiton.

The irony is that while cities becomes secured, it engenders greater surveillance that penetrates the public sphere; rendering citizens as mere ‘passive spectators’ (Brigg 2005). It regulates a certain code of conduct for its inhabitatns to abide by; restricting access or movements through soft urban features.

RINGS OF EXCLUSION The segregation and restructing of sections within cities becomes prevalent through the emergence of terrorism in urban centers. As cities erect hypothetical ‘Rings of Surveillance’ or physical ‘Rings of Steel’ around important centers, urban nodes becomes zones of control wihtin these layers of rings (Coaffee 2003).

The effects of such brutal securitisaiton was seen through the inevitable dislocaiton of London into zones

of differential risk and security, now perceived as part of the daily commute and routine (Coaffee 2009).

The post 9/11 fortifications of New York City created a society that secluded certain portions of its inhabitants form the rest of the city, receeding into privatised bubbles of safety and confidence; converting ‘Rings of Steel’ into ‘Rings of Confidence’ and eventually ‘Rings of Exclusion’ (Coaffee 2003).

3

p s e u d o p u b l i c s p a c e s

The exponential rise of terrorist attacks has influenced and punctuated urban spaces with ‘architecture[s] of terror’, where increased security presides overs the civility of the public sphere (Pawley 1998).

Securing the city resulted from ‘social and political priorities’ that are linked to the fear of losing economic and social order (Coaffee et al. 2009). The privatisation of corporate atriums evoked metaphors of territoriality, emanating the potential to dichotomize social groups residing within city centers.

London Docklands - a key economic precinct within the city - witnessed corporate giants forming unions to privatise security following the series of terror attacks by the Irish Republican Army in 1990. Despite already having 300 CCTVS and police checkpoints, these privatised rings of security were officialised in a bid to pacify high-profile businesses.

The ‘Ring of Steel’ in Belfast responded to some accout of consumer or corporate preference (Coaffee 2003); orginating from traffic control measures that mutated into permanent structures.

The urban fabric inherently becomes caught in between the crossfires of security and liveability, as urban fortifications embodied a malleable form, shifting its defenses against everchanging tactics of terrorists.

‘Military and geopolitical’ security eventully permeates into the built-environment to address and deter attacks.

The imposition of anti-terrorism measures on the public sphere strips civic spaces of its vibrant democratic activities, materialising the ‘virtual death’ of urban areas as functioning entities (Coaffee 2009).

Canary Wharf, 1990

The Central Business District (CBD) located south of Singapore - operates as the nation’s primary financial centre.

It’s financial, diplomatic and politcal value is of paramount importance. The site accomodates a large number of foreign investors, majority of corporate giants and foreign embassies - with 75% of Insurance firms, 64% of Capital Market firms and 90% of Banks, currently operating within the district; refer to diagram on the right.

Fortifying the district has innately begun in response to the rising terror related activities within the nation growing number of homegrown radicalised individuals and recent plots on key installations.

Over a span of 4 years, 5 counter-terrorist exercises were conducted across the district to increase the readiness of citizens and the relelvant authorities.

Foreign Workforce Breakdown Foreign Investments

Manufacturing: 169 875 mil Real Estate: 37, 734 Financial Services: 674, 706 mil Total Foreign Investments: 135, 947, 7 mil

Related Frms in CBD

Gross Value of Finance Percentage of

Total Foreign Workforce w/o FDW: 794, 300 Total Foreign Workforce: 137, 670, 0 Total Resident Workforce: 229, 270, 00

Insurance: 75% Capital Markets: 64% Banks: 90%

Singapore’s Economic Contributors

Singapore’s Business Districts

The Infrastructure Protection Act was introduced by the Ministry of Home Affairs to allow private owners to impose restrictions on any pubically accesible spaces if deemed necessary. The act further introduces schemes to faciliate the pooling of security reources across private developments for heightened safety (Republic of Singapore 2017).

Central Business District Morphology Simulated Counter-terrorism Exercises 2014 - 2019 Corporate Hybrid Programming 1st Storey Commercial

Semi-external Atriums

Stand-alone Towers

Privately owned, publicaly accesible spaces, or, Pseudo-public spaces in short, establishes the public plane that stitches the CBD together. A breakdown in the site’s morphology reveals the potentialitity of ‘urban fortresses’ emerging out from this three-dimensional, high-density context. Commercial programs

Internalised Thoroughfares

Linear Axes

are either located on the ground storey or within mixed-use podiums to facilitate the consumption of urban actitivies. Programmatic and demographic confrontations becomes further amplified as private atriums begins to insulate itself through digital and physcial security measures, manifesting into ‘Rings of Exclusivity’.

As digital surveillance proliferates around psudo-public spaces, information or data has ironically evolved beyond the scope of security.

In this age of on-demand services, the emerging digital economy coupled with surveillance techniques has redefined urban activites and business transactions.

DISSECTING URBAN

THE FABRIC

The speed of current breakthroughs has no historical precedence

The Fourth Industrial Revolution, or Industry 4.0, engenders exponential alterations to the way society will live, work, and relate to one another. The adoption of the Internet of Things adversely disrupts traditional conventions between consumer to producers, business to business and corporate structures.

Traditional hierarchical corporate structures are dissolving into flat makeups, empowering employees as essential resources in this race for development and talent.

Cryptography technologies removes any central authority behind financial

transactions, creating a digital ledger, shared across a distrubted network of servers.

Outsourcing is now being embraced by organisations of all sizes across industries. Businesses are moving over to multiple platforms and varying means to retain its competitive edge, offering small start-ups with specialised skillsets far more opportunities.

Digital services continues to blur the boundaries between work and play in this era of extensive consumerism.

Transparency becomes key in peer to peer interactions and the consumption of urban activities.

High Income Group: 21 Medium Income Group: 65 35 - 44 y/o: 24% 25 - 34 y/o: 37%

Economy Projections

App Economy Fiscal

Projections of Users

Existing Age Groups Singapore’s Digital

Users 2023: 6% Revenue 2023: 316 mil Users 2018: 2.8 % Revenue 2018: 164 mil

Non-cash Transactions 2020: $280 Billion 35 - 44 y/o: 24% 25 - 34 y/o: 37%

On-demand Services Statistics The transformation of consumer behaviors innately reshapes the future of urban exchanges. Immediate access to online functionality has conjured a sense of entitlement for immediate and personlaised experiences. Revenue growth for the App and On-demand Economy are expected to double from USD 164million to USD 316 million across 7 years.

Courier services are experiencing an annual growth of 2% in user penetration with a surge in usage within city centres and financial districts. Amazon’s recent conceptualisation of a floating warehouse has redefined the conventions of delivery services; taking instantaneous delivery one step further.

The exponential rise in the number of smartphone integrated purchases, location-based services pre-determines the produciton and consumption of urban activites.

Traditional chance encounters along a boulevard gets replaced by pre-determined selections of locations and services. Work and leisure centric activities becomes so intertwinned that the urban sphere grows into an extension of the IoT; acting as a platform for the systemic distribution of activities and services.

How does one harmonize security and civilty?

Is there a priority of one over there while f ear and urbanism are at war?

?

46 m a n u facturing o p e n s o u r c e urbanism

Virtue becomes a tool to negotiate the contestations of civility and security, production and consumption of urban activities, and, multiple stakeholders involved.

Virtuous City proposes an alternative urban form - Open Source Urbanism that expounds on the ‘transparency’ of Blockchain transactions to synthesise the procurement of urban sharing, collaboratives and leisure activities within a highly diversified and mixed used environment.

It pushes the principles of Blockchain technologies - an open, distributed legder recording transactions between parties involved

to formulate a city network that marries the requirements of surveillance and the digital revolution.

At its core, the system bridges the contestations of urban activites across the multiple agencies inhabiting the district. Virtue becomes commodified and serves as a self-regulatory component for the consumption of urban activites

Within a postulated urban vision of extreme securitisation, this paradoxical approach taps onto the potentials ofopen’ transactions and places the power - in deciding the construct of the urban fabric - into the hands of the masses.

The adaptation of emerging 3D Printing technologies to manufacture the procurement of future urban services pushes the extents of what an on-demand society entails. The ephemeralness of printed urban permuatations empowers the individual in determining the construct of his own urban fabric; within a land scarce context where corporatised skyscrappers are insulating itself away for safety.

Insufficient print volume?

Pool together and print more The city’s inhabitants are categorized into 3 main stakeholders; Corporate Firms, Entrepreneurs, and, Civilian, each with their individual agendas. Virtue is commodified into a framework where good conduct, active participation and urban collaboratives yields higher ‘scores’; that in turn entails greater access to various services.

Thinking of organising your own street festival?

Redeem your virtue now or participate for more

In need of a larger office space?

Provide more experiential beta testing for them

Campaigning for greater corporate awareness?

Locate the nearest start-ups or civilian now

Unable to increase your Virtue Scorecard?

Hunt for the earliest product development test

It decouples the discourse on prolonged securitisation and the ‘thickening’ of the morphology - Form Follows Fear, Citizens as Passive Spectators, and, Rings of Exclusivity - by implementing a central registry to regulate the utility and attainment of urban activities in this new age of outsourcing and collaborations.

The proposal is conceived through a series of elevated public platforms that explores the untapped possibilities of air space; derived out of the constraints imposed onto the ground plane by counter-terrorist and security measures.

A regular 30m grid along the main axes composes the framework for the erection of the 3D printing towers, serviced by secondary supporting programs; Drone Depot, Recylcing Unit, and, Storage Towers.

Each towers and its subsidary components are composed of modular parts to achieve maximum malleability; diluting the need for a ‘core’ or nodes to disrupt potential terrorist targets.

.

Business incubators are housed on the tier nearest to the ground plane, forming a spatial relationship with the insular podium-tower typologies to configure a medium for the connection with corporate giants and their outcoursing endavours.

The ‘On-the-go’ tier accounts for the majority of citizne’s daily print permutations, sprawling beyond the main axes, and into secondary arteries for added convenience. It establishes a testbed for emerging start-ups and its services or goods, and, provides an alternative to the heavily, constrained, technocratic production of urban activities on the ground plane.

The interjection of test-bedding or beta trials into the daily go-abouts - as observed in emerging economic projections - extends the public and private sphere and encourages the collaboration across parties involved, in formulating a cohesive environment through the Virtruvian System.

昀椀最 ㄀⸀ 倀䴀䐀 吀椀攀爀

昀椀最 ㈀⸀ 䤀渀挀甀戀愀琀漀爀猀 吀椀攀爀

开䰀漀最椀猀琀椀挀猀 ⬀ 䴀愀椀渀 䐀椀猀琀爀椀戀甀琀愀爀礀 䠀椀最栀眀愀礀

开 匀瀀愀琀椀愀氀 刀攀氀愀琀椀漀渀猀栀椀瀀 眀 倀漀搀椀甀洀猀 开䴀愀椀渀 伀甀琀猀漀甀爀挀椀渀最 䐀攀挀欀 开 倀爀漀砀椀洀椀琀礀 琀漀 䰀漀最椀猀琀椀挀猀 䐀攀挀欀

昀椀最 㐀⸀ 唀爀戀愀渀 䌀漀氀氀愀戀漀爀愀琀椀瘀攀猀 吀椀攀爀

昀椀最 ㌀⸀ 伀渀ⴀ吀栀攀ⴀ䜀漀 吀椀攀爀

开 刀攀洀愀椀渀椀渀最 䄀椀爀猀瀀愀挀攀 昀漀爀 䰀攀椀猀甀爀攀 倀攀爀洀甀琀愀琀椀漀渀猀

开䴀愀椀渀 䌀椀琀椀稀攀渀ᤠ猀 䐀攀挀欀 开䤀渀挀甀戀愀琀漀爀ᤠ猀 吀攀猀琀戀攀搀 开 䌀漀爀瀀漀爀愀琀攀 䔀砀瀀愀渀猀椀漀渀 吀椀攀爀

吀椀攀爀猀 刀攀氀愀琀椀漀渀猀栀椀瀀

“

These ‘deck developments’ represent alternative or in between shared spaces that absorbs the territorial boundaries between the public and private domains... are increasingly being adopted and integrated within high-rise, high-density, mixed-use housing developments across Asia to compensate for the lack of public space.

Cho, Zdravko and Nasution, 2017

p o w e r t o t h e p e o p l e