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.
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
CeMoRe, University of Lancaster January 2004 7
“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