Art + Tech for Urban Resilience

This program is organised by BOZAR and French Tech Grande Provence, in the framework of the S+T+ARTS Programme (Science + Technology + the Arts).

Today, 55% of the world’s population lives in urban areas, a proportion expected to rise to almost 70% by 2050. Over the last century, our cities have been built mainly on an approach based on efficiency and productivity. However, the technical progress our societies has shown its limits in the depletion of natural resources, and the destruction of our natural ecosystems.

In addition to this, the recent outbreak of COVID-19 has presented tremendous challenges for the reorganization of urban areas, many of them related to the massive potential shift in individual habits. To an extent, these new habits may contrast starkly with the longstanding aim of reaching sustainable and equitable cities through, for instance, the re-adoption of private means of transportation, sprawl at much lower densities, and the attraction of living in small towns rather than large cities.

In the light of climate change and health crisis, the concept of the ultra-technological and connected “smart city” has lost ground to that of the resilient and sustainable city. This urban ideal implies the transformation of the existing ecosystem and our habits so that a more resilient society ―with enhanced accessibility, social inclusion and citizen well-being― can emerge. What role should be assigned to the conversation between art, science and technology in this transition process? How can artists help create new imaginaries for collective and participatory systems, spaces for reflection and criticism for our future?