Urban Aesthetics and Technology

Technology in one form or another has always been a part of urban life. Its development and uses have traditionally been dictated by the practical needs of the community. However, technologies also impact how a city looks and feels. Some technologies have a clear perceivable presence, whereas others are more invisibly embedded into the material structures of the city. This chapter is a study of how the aesthetic features of cities manifest through and in relation to technologies. The chapter bridges recent developments in philosophical urban aesthetics and contemporary approaches in the philosophy of technology. Central concepts include perception, aesthetic experience, aesthetic value, affordance, and attention. The chapter presents urban mobility as an example of how technology can be studied through the framework of urban aesthetics. The final part of the chapter highlights some implications of the aesthetics of technology for urban design.