'Smart' Cities, Urban Innovation and Fuller

Before there were "smart cities", there was R. Buckminster Fuller.

1 minute read

July 30, 2011, 1:00 PM PDT

By Nate Berg


This piece from The New York Times looks at the history of Fuller's ideas for cities, and how they have influenced the work of designers since.

"Before "smart cities," politicians, developers, architects and ecologists talked about "livable cities," then "digital cities," then "intelligent cities."

But there is a long and checkered history of smart ideas for urban development that turned out to be, in hindsight, not so smart, or at least not very practical. "

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Mary G., Urban Planner

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