Focus 2050: Two Workshops with interdisciplinary students

In January 2018, Avenue21 organises two interdisciplinary student workshops, attended by students from the German Academic Scholarship Foundation and the Technical University of Vienna.

W1: Urban Futures with autonomous traffic

In a two-day workshop, we introduce students from various disciplines to topical questions on autonomous vehicles and their impact on urban environments and future mobility. Reflecting the scientifically unanswered questions on planning policies or infrastructural requirements, we look ahead at the individual’s perspective and everyday urban experience in 2050.

How does the journey of the future look like? Where are we headed? Which traffic mode and pace shapes our perception? By investigating possible changes in everyday mobility, students design socio-spatial scenarios for the use and implications of automated vehicles in 2050.

W2: Impact of digitalisation and automatisation in the European city

To reflect the diverse perspectives from research, planning, politics, industry and society on the advent of automated vehicles in the larger context of technological and urban transformations, we do not tire to ask “What is it that lies ahead of us?”. From online shopping to industry 4.0, from connected and self-driving vehicles to decentralised energy systems, technological disruptions are to transform all aspects of urban life. But what benefits and risks do they imply, if considered from various standpoints and disciplines?

Avenue and future.lab invite students from diverse backgrounds to engage in a discursive afternoon debating questions such as “Who designs the city of the future?”, “How will labour and production look like?” and “Which lifestyles will characterize urban life?” The debate format allows stepping into foreign perspectives, building arguments and reflecting the ambivalence of technological development in relation to the manifold interests and stakes involved.