Critical Points of Contact: Exploring networked relations in urban mobility and service design

In contemporary urban societies multiple networks and systems interact, overlap, exist in parallel, converge, conflict etc. creating unforeseen complexity and less transparency. By exploring how layered networks of physical movement, service information, goods delivery, commercial communication etc. are connected (and disconnected) we get a much better understanding of how to design and intervene regardless if we are thinking about public spaces in the city or new systems of service design. The many networks orchestrating and facilitating contemporary everyday life are dependent on the strategic sites where the networks meet and establish contact. Thus we argue for the usefulness of the notion of Critical Point of Contact (CPC) to deepen our understanding of the actual life within networks. En route to this notion we draw upon theories within as diverse realms such as interaction design, service design, geography, and mobility studies. After the introduction in section we develop and define the notion of CPC based upon a broad set of disciplines and theories. We illustrate the usefulness of the notion within the field of mobility in the network city and within the field of service design. The paper ends with concluding remarks and perspectives for further theoretical as well as empirical work in prolongation of this beginning research effort.