Urban Queer Inclusivity in Smart Cities
At BABLE Smart Cities, inclusivity is an integral part of the way we see the future of Smart and sustainable cities. BABLE aims ‘to create liveable and future-proof sustainable cities’. This liveability element is a core goal of the smart city process, which should be made possible for all communities. The LGBTQ+ community is, of course, very much an aspect of this.
We wanted to celebrate Pride Month by looking at ways in which cities and the places and spaces within them can be reshaped, help better connect with, and reflect the queer community; a community which makes up such an integral constituent part of them.
‘Place’ has always played an important role in the growth and shaping of the LGBTQ+ community. It is no coincidence that Pride events in Germany and other parts of Europe are referred to as Christopher Street Day, named to acknowledge and to hold the memory of the Stonewall Uprising high - an event seen as a watershed moment for the fledgling gay rights movement at the time.
Like any minority group, a feeling of community and safety is often sought. ‘Place’, and a sense of safe space play a fundamental role in this. The last few decades in many parts of Europe have seen a positive change in terms of recognition and rights of queer-identifying people. A lot more, however, can and should be done to fully welcome the LGBTQ+ community into the public space. For instance, a trend referred to as ‘the new homonormativity’ has seen a growth in acceptance of queerness, but at the cost of the commodification, or ‘gaytrification’, and almost ghettoization of gay spaces (Bell and Binnie).
Clearly then, much more is needed to be done to ensure that the queer community, within the realm of urbanism and city governance, is an inclusive space for all aspects of the LGBTQ+ community. Furthermore, it must be ensured that urban planning doesn’t intentionally confine this community exclusively to ‘gay spaces.’
One crucial aspect of this is in allowing for a connection to be made between the different sectors and cultural bodies of society, to improve harmony and understanding between them.
The Public Art Lab, for instance, is one such platform working towards this aim. As an urban media art collective with a focus on intercultural dialogue, groups such as these are helping to reshape public places to be a more open and safe environment for all, not least the LGBTQ community. Their project, Digital Calligraffiti aimed to help connect and provide a pathway for citizens’ inclusion and intercultural dialogue. Individuals were given a platform to share and express themselves, in doing so creating understanding and helping to combat societal disconnection.
You can read more about this example of The Public Art Lab’s work as a Use Case on the BABLE Smart Cities website here.
Citizen engagement is also a key element for marginalised communities to make their collective voices heard. As my colleague, Nanzala Gonda, wrote about recently in her Smart Cityzine article regarding the role of urban psychology in shaping cities, there is a preference for online engagement for many groups which suffer from inequality bias. This is due to the lack of nonverbal politics involved in an online setting. Such a communication format helps in constructing a comfortable environment for all members of society, to freely express their thoughts when it comes to how best to shape their city surroundings.
To read Nanzala’s, as well as other Smart Cityzine articles from members of the BABLE Smart Cities team, click the link here.
BABLE happily hosts a number of Use Cases with citizen engagement at their core. This includes Unheard Voices SBIR Challenge from Fingal County, Ireland. Here, a focus was placed on increasing citizen participation for sections of society ‘not traditionally reached with existing methods.’ Another similar Use Case from the Dublin region, saw the city council collaborate with Citibeats, a social intelligence and speech analytics platform. The resulting monthly report, The Dublin Beat, allows for the social media audience within Dublin’s citizenry to be analysed, showing which current issues are of utmost importance, for societal groupings such as the LGTBQ+ community. This helps to guide Dublin City Council in their cultural endeavours, to better reflect the needs and demands of all the communities that make up the city.
You can check out more about these and other such engagement-related Use Cases on the BABLE platform!
Pride month is a reminder to all, of the great moves forward society has made in terms of recognition and rights of the LGBTQ+ community. Whilst there is still a lot to be done to fully realise the aims of an inclusive-for-all society, progress is slowly but surely being made to create a smart, sustainable and socially just urban world. BABLE will continue to play a role in shaping this future.
Want to read more about Smart City implementations? Find them on the BABLE platform!
Make sure to also take a look at our other Medium articles, and always feel free to reach out to us for any inquiry.
