Childhood in a digital city: Between risks and opportunities
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.33910/2687-0223-2021-3-4-280-289Keywords:
city, quality of urban environment, childhood space, digital transformation, smart city, urban socialisationAbstract
The article focuses on child personality development in an urban environment shaped by digital transformation. Traditionally, digitalisation of urban environment is seen as an important resource for ensuring a high quality of life in the city, maximizing the preservation and growth of human capital and stimulating sustainable economic development. However, the analysis of the smart city as a space for socialisation opens up new perspectives for understanding the digital elements of this environment. Based on qualitative and quantitative research, the article discusses the risks and opportunities for young people’s socialisation in a digital city. An important socio-psychological feature of digital citizens is their strong dependence on digital technology in their behavioural patterns and habits. At the same time, people’s immersion into the digital environment is uneven. Based on the extent of regular digital technology use, two types of digital citizens can be distinguished: “digital immigrants” and “digital natives”. The article aligns these properties of the individuals living in digital cities and the metrics of city’s child- and adolescent-friendliness: freedom of mobility, other features of urban interaction, urban ecology and the cultural and aesthetic role of the urban environment. Based on this analysis, the article identifies some key advantages and risks of the digital city as a space for socialisation. The primary threat connected to child’s personal development in a digital city lie the growing alienation and misunderstanding between generations, i.e. the conflict between digital natives and digital migrants. On the other hand, the advantages of a digital city include the wide availability of education and creative development resources, opportunities for children and adolescents’ active participation in the life of the city as well as multiculturalism and growing “digital trust” in young people.
References
ИСТОЧНИКИ
Все курсы онлайн. (2021) [Электронный ресурс]. URL: https://vse-kursy.com/onlain/kids/ (дата обращения 09.12.2021).
Cohen, B. (2015) The 3 Generations of Smart Cities: Inside the development of the technology driven city. Fast Company, 8 October. [Online]. Available at: https://www.fastcompany.com/3047795/the-3-generations-of-smart-cities (accessed 07.09.2021).
Minsk Smart City Forum 2020. 16–19 июня. (2020) Dev.by. [Online]. Available at: https://events.dev.by/minsk-smart-city-forum-2020 (accessed 30.09.2021).
Skillbox. (2021) [Online]. Available at: https://skillbox.ru/ (accessed 09.12.2021).
Skysmart. (2021) [Online]. Available at: https://skysmart.ru/?fromsource=main_skyeng&abcookie=skyeng_new_ homepage%3D1 (accessed 09.12.2021).
Teachbase. (2021) [Online]. Available at: https://teachbase.ru/ (accessed 09.12.2021).
ЛИТЕРАТУРА
Веселов, Ю. В. (2020) Доверие в цифровом обществе. Вестник Санкт-Петербургского университета. Социология, т. 13. № 2. с. 129–143. https://doi.org/10.21638/spbu12.2020.202
Глейзер, Э. (2015) Триумф города. Как наше величайшее изобретение делает нас богаче, умнее, экологичнее, здоровее и счастливее. М.: Изд-во Института Гайдара, 432 с.
Кастельс, М. (2000) Информационная эпоха: экономика, общество и культура. М.: Государственный университет Высшей школы экономики, 608 с.
Лебедева, Е. В., Денискина, А. И. (2020) Цифровизация городской среды и цифровые компетенции горожан. Журнал Белорусского государственного университета. Социология, № 3, с. 101–110. https://doi.org/10.33581/2521-6821-2020-3-101-110
Лебедева, Е. В., Филипова, А. Г. (2019) Дружественность городской среды в ракурсе структурно-функционального анализа. Журнал Белорусского государственного университета. Философия. Психология, № 2, с. 44–53.
Монтгомери, Ч. (2019) Счастливый город. Как городское планирование меняет нашу жизнь. М.: Манн, Иванов и Фербер, 368 с.
Петрофф, Н. (2010) Urban Baby, или Перспективы культурно-исторического изучения раннего возраста в контексте американского городского социума. Антропологический форум, № 12, с. 127–137.
Ратти, К., Клодел, М. (2018) Город завтрашнего дня: сенсоры, сети, хакеры и будущее городской жизни. М.: Изд-во Института Гайдара, 239 с.
Тапскотт, Д. (1999) Электронно-цифровое общество: Плюсы и минусы эпохи сетевого интеллекта. М.: Рефл-бук, 408 с.
Freeman, C. (2006) Colliding worlds: Planning with children and young people for better cities. In: B. J. Gleeson, N. Sipe (eds.). Creating child friendly cities. Oxford: Routledge Publ., pp. 69–85.
Gallotti, R., Valle, F., Castaldo, N. et al. (2020) Assessing the risks of “infodemics” in response to COVID-19 epidemics. Nature Human Behaviour, no. 4, рp. 1285–1293. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-020-00994-6
Greenfield, A. (2013) Against the smart city. New York: Do Projects Publ., 106 p.
Kearns, R. A., Collins, D. C. A. (2003) Crossing roads, crossing boundaries: Empowerment and participation in a child pedestrian safety initiative. Space and Polity, vol. 7, no. 2, pp. 193–212. https://doi.org/10.1080/1356257032000133937
Kitchin, R. (2016) The ethics of smart cities and urban science. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences, vol. 374, article 20160115. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsta.2016.0115
Komninos, N. (2008) Intelligent cities and globalisation of innovation networks. London: Routledge Publ., 320 p.
Malone, K. (2001) Children, youth and sustainable cities. Local Environment, vol. 6, no. 1, pp. 5–12. https://doi.org/10.1080/13549830120024215
Prensky, M. (2001) Digital natives, digital immigrants. Part 1. On the Horizon, vol. 9, no. 5, pp. 1–6. https://doi.org/10.1108/10748120110424816
Townsend, A. M. (2014) Smart cities: Big data, civic hackers, and the quest for a new utopia. New York: W. W. Norton & Company Publ., 416 p.
Vanolo, A. (2014) Smartmentality: The smart city as disciplinary strategy. Urban Studies, vol. 51, no. 5, pp. 883–898. https://doi.org/10.1177/0042098013494427
SOURCES
Cohen, B. (2015) The 3 Generations of Smart Cities: Inside the development of the technology driven city. Fast Company, 8 October. [Online]. Available at: https://www.fastcompany.com/3047795/the-3-generations-of-smart-cities (accessed 07.09.2021). (In English)
Minsk Smart City Forum 2020. 16–19 June. (2020) Dev.by. [Online]. Available at: https://events.dev.by/minsk-smart-city-forum-2020 (accessed 30.09.2021). (In Russian)
Skillbox. (2021) [Online]. Available at: https://skillbox.ru/ (accessed 30.09.2021). (In Russian)
Skysmart. (2021) [Online]. Available at: https://skysmart.ru/?fromsource=main_skyeng&abcookie=skyeng_new_ homepage%3D1 (accessed 30.09.2021). (In Russian)
Teachbase. (2021) [Online]. Available at: https://teachbase.ru/ (accessed 09.12.2021). (In Russian)
Vse kursy onlajn [All courses online]. (2021) [Online]. Available at: https://vse-kursy.com/onlain/kids/ (accessed 30.09.2021). (In Russian)
REFERENCES
Castells, M. (2000) Informatsionnaya epokha: ekonomika, obshchestvo i kul’tura [The information age: Economy, society and culture]. Moscow: HSE University Publ., 608 p. (In Russian)
Freeman, C. (2006) Colliding worlds: Planning with children and young people for better cities. In: B. J. Gleeson, N. Sipe (eds.). Creating child friendly cities. Oxford: Routledge Publ., pp. 69–85. (In English)
Gallotti, R., Valle, F., Castaldo, N. et al. (2020) Assessing the risks of “infodemics” in response to COVID-19 epidemics. Nature Human Behaviour, no. 4, рp. 1285–1293. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-020-00994-6 (In English)
Glazer, E. (2014) Triumf goroda. Kak nashe velichajshee izobretenie delaet nas bogache, umnee, ekologichnee, zdorovee i schastlivee [Triumph of the City. How our greatest invention makes us richer, smarter, greener, healthier and happier]. Moscow: Gaidar Institute Publ., 432 p. (In Russian)
Greenfield, A. (2013) Against the smart city. New York: Do Projects Publ., 106 p. (In English)
Kearns, R. A., Collins, D. C. A. (2003) Crossing roads, crossing boundaries: Empowerment and participation in a child pedestrian safety initiative. Space and Polity, vol. 7, no. 2, pp. 193–212. https://doi.org/10.1080/1356257032000133937 (In English)
Kitchin, R. (2016) The ethics of smart cities and urban science. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences, vol. 374, article 20160115. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsta.2016.0115 (In English)
Komninos, N. (2008) Intelligent cities and globalisation of innovation networks. London: Routledge Publ., 320 p. (In English)
Lebedeva, E. V., Deniskina, A. I. (2020) Tsifrovizatsiya gorodskoj sredy i tsifrovye kompetentsii gorozhan [Digitalization of city and digital copetencies of citizens]. Zhurnal Belorusskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta. Sotsiologiya — Journal of the Belarusian State University. Sociology, no. 3, pp. 101–110. https://doi.org/10.33581/2521- 6821-2020-3-101-110 (In Russian)
Lebedeva, E. V. Filipova, A. G. (2019) Druzhestvennost’ gorodskoj sredy v rakurse strukturno-funktsional’nogo analiza [Urban environment friendliness in the perspective of a structural functionalism]. Zhurnal Belorusskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta. Filosofiya. Psikhologiya — Journal of the Belarusian State University. Philosophy. Psychology, no. 2, pp. 44–53. (In Russian)
Malone, K. (2001) Children, youth and sustainable cities. Local Environment, vol. 6, no. 1, pp. 5–12. https://doi.org/10.1080/13549830120024215 (In English)
Montgomery, Ch. (2019) Schastlivyj gorod. Kak gorodskoe planirovanie menyaet nashu zhizn’ [Happy city: Transforming our lives through urban design]. Moscow: Mann, Ivanov and Ferber Publ., 368 p. (In Russian)
Petroff, N. (2010) Urban Baby, ili Perspektivy kul’turno-istoricheskogo izucheniya rannego vozrasta v kontekste amerikanskogo gorodskogo sotsiuma [Urban Baby, or prospects for the cultural-historical study of early life in the context of the American urban society]. Antropologicheskij forum — Forum for Anthropology and Culture, no. 12, pp. 127–137. (In Russian)
Prensky, M. (2001) Digital natives, digital immigrants. Part 1. On the Horizon, vol. 9, no. 5, pp. 1–6. https://doi.org/10.1108/10748120110424816 (In English)
Ratti, K., Claudel, M. (2018) Gorod zavtrashnego dnya: sensory, seti, khakery i budushchee gorodskoj zhizni [The city of tomorrow: Sensors, networks, hackers, and the future of urban life]. Moscow: Gaidar Institute Publ., 239 p. (In Russian)
Tapscott, D. (1999) Elektronno-tsifrovoye obshchestvo: Plyusy i minusy epokhi setevogo intellekta. [Electronic-digital society: Pros and cons of the era of network intelligence]. Moscow: Refl-buk Publ., 408 p. (In Russian)
Townsend, A. M. (2014) Smart cities: Big data, civic hackers, and the quest for a new utopia. New York: W. W. Norton & Company Publ., 416 p. (In English)
Vanolo, A. (2014) Smartmentality: The smart city as disciplinary strategy. Urban Studies, vol. 51, no. 5, pp. 883–898. https://doi.org/10.1177/0042098013494427 (In Endlish)
Veselov, Yu. V. (2020) Doverie v tsifrovom obshchestve [Trust in a digital society]. Vestnik Sankt-Peterburgskogo universiteta. Sotsiologiya — Vestnik of Saint Petersburg State University. Sociology, vol. 13, no. 2, pp. 129–143. https://doi.org/10.21638/spbu12.2020.202 (In Russian)
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2022 Elena V. Lebedeva
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
The work is provided under the terms of the Public Offer and of Creative Commons public license Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0). This license allows an unlimited number of persons to reproduce and share the Licensed Material in all media and formats. Any use of the Licensed Material shall contain an identification of its Creator(s) and must be for non-commercial purposes only.
