How Technology Devices Can Help or Harm Vulnerable Communities in Technocene. Issues for Designers, Architects, and Policy Makers

Abstract

This paper explores the important role of technology development in contemporary age for vulnerable communities. Combining the widespread concept of Anthropocene with the philosophical position which considers technology as the environment of humanity, these research aims to understand the challenges for design, architecture, and politics and to get a comprehension how technology can help or harm vulnerable communities in the next decades. The research is based on a deep analysis of the existing literature to highlight, from the perspective of urban-architectural design, the potential risks (technology illiteracy, data production, and exclusion) and benefits (reduction of distances, self-production, transportation, monitoring, and engagement) of technological development for vulnerable communities. Aspects necessary for equitable and sustainable development emerge: the involvement of the vulnerable population in the adoption of technology, the adoption of effective public policies, investments in infrastructure, educational efforts, and attention to generate a non-exclusive market. These needs are added to a scenario in which the designer engaged in activities in vulnerable communities must face other contemporary emergencies (environmental, social crises, etc.) and adopt new methodologies of involving the population (self-construction, participatory design, etc.). This research therefore highlights issues for designers, architects, and policy makers generated by technological development and its possible impacts on vulnerable communities.