Singapore Junior Scholar Seminar: 23 March 2022

Seeing, Feeling, Knowing the Smart City

Nurul Amillin Hussain, PhD Candidate (Geography and the Environment), University of Oxford

Wednesday, 23 March 2022, 7.30-8.30pm Singapore time (GMT +8), via Zoom

How does a Smart City look? How does a Smart Citizen feel? Drawing on ethnographic data, this doctoral project explores three main things: (1) the visibility of the physical infrastructure of smart estates (cables, solar panels, etc.), (2) the digital and non-digital technologies used by residents to reduce the friction of everyday living in HDB (Housing Development Board) blocks, and (3) the responsibility of residents to deal with climate change events such as haze. Through these experiences of the smart city, this project shows how Singaporeans actively participate in their environment in ways that might challenge what “active citizenship” usually looks like.

Nurul Amillin Hussain’s research focuses on topics around sustainability and the smart city. Her PhD studies at the University of Oxford is supported by the Nanyang Technological University’s (NTU) HASS (Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences) International PhD Programme. She is currently also in her first term as an Assistant Professor in the Sociology department at NTU.

Amillin’s seminar is organised in collaboration with NTU Sociology.

DISCUSSANT

Orlando Woods is Associate Professor of Humanities, Associate Dean (Research), and Lee Kong Chian Fellow at Singapore Management University. His research interests span religion, digital technologies and urban environments in Asia. More.

ABOUT THIS SERIES

The Singapore Studies Junior Scholar Seminars are organised by AcademiaSG, an international collective of Singaporean scholars, as part of our mission to promote research on Singapore. If you are a PhD student or post-doctoral scholar with research to share, read our Call for Proposals. We also welcome essays and commentaries for our Academic Views section. Write to our editors through our contact form to pitch an idea.