CeMoRe, University of Lancaster January 2004 1

Alternative Mobility FuturesCentre for Mobilities Research Lancaster University 9-11th January, 2004

Twin Towers, Amoy Gardens

and Transport ChoicesDr Stephen Little,

Open University Business School,Milton Keynes Mk7 6AA.

s.e.little@open.ac.uk

full paper available at http://www.stephenelittle.com

see also http:/www.geocities.com/tatra_tansport

CeMoRe, University of Lancaster January 2004 2

Background

Hong Kong SAR 2nd highest broad-band usage

first rate public transport

Octopus smart card as de-facto alternate currency

Amoy Gardens 35 storey high-rise block, 100 SARS cases, 230 people quarantined for 30 days

CeMoRe, University of Lancaster January 2004 3

Two Events

9/11 attacks shift understanding of co-presence and dual use of technology• transport infrastructure become terrorist medium

SARS shifts perception of risk of disease• Hong Kong density facilitates this• initial mis-recognition as bio-terrorism

Propagation of terror and disease both reflect global mobilities• mobility, facilitated by ICTs, become problematic• these enabling technologies seen as both problem and

solution

CeMoRe, University of Lancaster January 2004 4

Context

Globalisation and mobility• C19 internationalisation based on reliability steamship,

electric telegraph, medical prophylaxis (Headrick,1981)• C20 globalisation based on ICTs, rapid repeated

exchange, new forms of adjacency

Post Cold War narratives• “military-industrial complex” generating new sub-

national and transnational anxieties• movement of populations, propagation of disease• both already identified as C21 security risks by NIC

(2000)– Siberian drug resistant strains of TB in 1990s New York

CeMoRe, University of Lancaster January 2004 5

Recovery and Responses

Uneven recovery of air travel• industry already problems before 9/11

– economy measures included reduced cabin air circulation– IATA view driven by economics

• East Asian post-SARS recovery driven by goods as much as

people. Surveillance

• conditions and restrictions on air passengers • biometric identification systems• GPS requirement for US cell phones (pre-9/11)• collective global tracking of SARS

New International Relationships• China joining European Galileo GPS system• UK joining US “network centric defense” system

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Consequences and Legacies

Pearl Harbor precursor of Pacific Century 9/11 and American Century

• www.newamericancentury.org Subsequent targetting of Muslim countries

• by both “sides”– economic attacks on secular Islam

• tourism (Bali) and finance (Turkey)– Afghanistan and Iraq

• nation state instantiations of an amorphous enemy Risk and uncertainty undermine reliability and

predictability• local and long distance travel choices

– shut-down and restriction on aviation– avoidance of landmarks - Golden Gate & Sydney Harbour

Bridges

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“Dread Factor”

Perrow (1984) provides and analysis of risk perception• lack of control over the activity• fatal consequences of a mishap• high catastrophic potential• reactions of dread• inequitable distribution of risks and benefits• belief that risks are increasing and are not easily

reducible Perrow 1984 p326.

CeMoRe, University of Lancaster January 2004 8

Remaining Tensions and Questions

Military or civil infrastructure?• US Air Traffic control data now mirrored at Colorado Springs

in real time• Imperial origins of transport and communication

infrastructures (Headrick, 1981)• GPS and cruise missile diplomacy

Reversibility of Surveillance• Voicing the other - Al Jazeera• selective use of dominant infrastructures - Al Qaeda

Do ICTs promote substitution or permit mobility?• “dataveillance” and surveillance society (Clark, 1989)• smart cards and ID cards• the price of mobility - eternal surveillance?

CeMoRe, University of Lancaster January 2004 9

Conclusion: the other digital divide?

Military paradigm • high tech weaponry and information warfare

– electronic countermeasures / broadcast propaganda

• cruise missile diplomacy Civil paradigm

• 1980’s AI projects• “knowledge extraction” • assumption of ultimate superiority of high level abstract

data. New paradigm

• bottom-up and networked response, • feedback loop of systems theory and cybernetics (Beer,

1972) • intentionality of those on the receiving end of policies

and technologies