BEGIN:VCALENDAR
PRODID:-//eluceo/ical//2.0/EN
VERSION:2.0
CALSCALE:GREGORIAN
BEGIN:VEVENT
UID:fbb9bf74a8307c035c1cfc444bf0daaf
DTSTAMP:20260912T113737Z
SUMMARY:CMES seminar: New MECW-project: Utopian Desert
DESCRIPTION:Kontakt: lisa.strombom@svet.lu.se\n\nResearchers Lorena Melgaç
 o\, Sandra Kopljar\, Mattias Kärrholm and Dalia Mukhtar Landgren will pre
 sent Utopian Desert: Investigating Smart Cities in the Gulf Region and dis
 cuss the project's aims and perspectives.Abstract: Driven by AI and digita
 lisation\, smart cities have become a prominent global concept\, increasin
 gly integrated into policies and urban plans worldwide. The Gulf states ha
 ve recentlyemerged as leading proponents of the smart city agenda\, deploy
 ing large-scale urban projects to reposition the region globally as post-o
 il and sustainable. Building on insights from critical smart city research
  and translation literature\, this project examines how smart city visions
  are translated into urban planning and practices across the GCC\, and how
  these processes produce locally situated urban outcomes. We are intereste
 d in how smart cities are imagined\, promoted\, and materialised as sustai
 nable urban development future models\; the emerging networks and partners
 hips translating smart cities to local contexts\; and how sustainability a
 mbitions are formulated\, mobilised and anticipated through such processes
 .The study analyses four smart city projects at different stages of develo
 pment – Masdar City and the Loop (UAE)\, Lusail (Qatar)\, and NEOM (Saud
 i Arabia)\, ranging from realised to speculative initiatives. It weaves to
 gether previous studies in smart cities in MENA with theoretical discussio
 ns on translation and mediation and smart cities as forms of anticipation 
 and economisation. It uses a qualitative\, interpretive approach combining
  (i) case-study approaches from social science (ii) artistic methods throu
 gh carried affordance analysis\, and (iii) ethnographic circulations. Alig
 ning with CMES research theme “environment and sustainable development
 ” within the MECW framework\, this project resituates gulf smart cities 
 scholarly debates from prescriptive implementation towards critical\, inte
 rdisciplinary analysis\, while moving beyond Western-centric frameworks to
  illustrate the unique smart urbanism configurations in the Middle East.Co
 ffee\, tea and pastries will be served after the seminar.Everyone is warml
 y welcome!\n\nMer information om händelsen: https://www.svet.lu.se/evenem
 ang/cmes-seminar-new-mecw-project-utopian-desert
DTSTART;TZID=GMT:20260910T111500
DTEND;TZID=GMT:20260910T123000
LOCATION:CMES seminar room\, Finngatan 16.
END:VEVENT
END:VCALENDAR