Technology & Cities in the �age of social distance
Tim Tompson, PhD
Co-founder, Snowmelt
Rob Chan
Product & Operations, ex-Uber
Cities are not just physical
Roads, Bridges
Gas, Water, Energy, Transit, Internet
Buildings, Houses, Apartments
Informational
Cultural & Social
Built Environment
Fluid (fast changing)
Solid (slower changing)
Technology increases in complexity, enabling more social patterns to be held in place.
For decades, we’ve been hurtling forward at breakneck speeds.
Then for the first year in a long time, we all stopped collectively.
Jan 2020
Wuhan, Hubei went into lockdown on 23rd.
Jan 2020
Public transit shut, business & factories closed, citizens confined to home.
Before: 12 Jan
After: 28 Jan
Busy street
Empty streets
Feb 2020
Restricted air traffic
Before: 8 Jan
After: 17 Feb
Eurocontrol
Feb 2020
Nitrogen dioxide, a pollutant from burning fossil fuels, were down 30%, according to NASA.
Before: 1-20 Jan
After: 10-25 Feb
Mar 2020
Indian Cities, YOY NO2 emissions
CNN
Mar 2020
Delhi’s skies emerged
Before: 3 Nov 2019
After: 30 Mar 2020
CNN
Mar 2020
Global, YOY NO2 emissions
Before: Mar 1–Apr 5, 2019
After: Mar 1–Apr 5, 2020
Apr 2020
Coast Guard shows dozens of oil tankers off L.A. coast with nowhere to go
Apr 2020
“Over the 150 years for which we have data, there’s never been a negative price print before,” wrote Reid and Burns.
Before: Focused on higher order needs
Self actualise
Esteem
Love/belonging
Safety
Physiological
Before this year
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs (1943)
Now: Humility, Gratitude, Re-learning the world
Self actualise
Esteem
Love/belonging
Safety
Physiological
Before this year
We took these for granted
Covid-19 shook us all
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs (1943)
We could be the spreader