ICTs and Public Spaces

Keith Hampton has been exploring the influence of Information and Communication Technologies on isolation, social networks and community for a number of years. Recently, he has taken this interest to public spaces to see you ICTs influence social life in parks and plazas around the world. You can see a short video on this project here and a short lecture Hampton gave at the Intelligent Cities Forum here. The New York Times covered this research in Jan 2014. Read it here.

Hampton's project is an update of the video research project conducted by William H. Whyte in the 70s and 80s. Whyte's research is innovative and insightful. For a real treat, you can watch a short documentary he prepared here.