The will to connection: A research agenda for the “programmable city” and an ICT “toolbox” for urban planning

In this chapter the fields of urban planning and design and their needs for mastering networked technologies are at the center. The chapter discusses what an “Information and Communication Technology Toolbox” for urban planners and designers might mean. Along the road it is argued that a planners’ and designers’ “toolbox” should contain three dimensions: hardware (technological devices), software (operative code), and a manual (here understood as a theoretically informed conceptualization of the socio-cultural embedding of these networked technologies). There is a need for creating operational tools and understandings that urban planners and designers may utilize next to the technologies and software. The theoretical background for this is derived from the “mobilites turn” as well as theories exploring network technologies and new media.