Rebooting the Digital City; Digital Placemaking at the Edge

The Digital histories of cities like Bristol shape the development of the place as much as global technology milestones. The “Rebooting the Digital City” study gathers-up Bristol Breadcrumbs, stories of significant, large and small building blocks, which have formed the Digital City beneath our feet. Where will the Bristol Breadcrumb trail lead next? The pandemic has created an opportunity to shift Digital Placemaking towards “the Edge” powering-up local Digital networks and communities. The study presents ideas under three headings, Edge Computing, Communities with an Edge and Keeping it Edgy. It explores the pros and cons of “re-localising the Internet” and what might happen if we were to say “Hey Bristol” or “Hey Filwood” instead of always calling on Siri or Alexa. The aim is to sketch a possible future direction for Bristol as a Digital City but also to highlight ways in which other cities and places might build their own Digital Placemaking stories.

Final report pdf can be found here: REBOOTING THE DIGITAL CITY