From Cyberpunk to Solarpunk: Technics and the Cities of the Future | Blue Labyrinths

**Note:** Creating such a radically different type of city probably requires too-down direction; is this at odds with solarpunk ideals?

However, although the city state is very progressive in terms of its green aesthetic vision, its politics as a whole are certainly not in line with the solarpunk ethos. Singapore’s government has often been described as authoritarian and anti-democratic by a variety of different measures. Indeed, despite topping the Smart City Index, Singapore ofte... See more

If solarpunk is about providing real world solutions to some of the problems modern cities are facing in the wake of climate change then it’s difficult to deny Singapore’s significance.

Green, sustainable infrastructure as a form of resistance. Technical systems decoupled from the ‘authoritarian technics’ that Mumford warns us about. The embracing of the natural and the technical. This idea is where the solarpunk vision really comes into its own.

Our future must involve repurposing and creating new things from what we already have (instead of 20th century “destroy it all and build something completely different” modernism). Our futurism is not nihilistic like cyberpunk and it avoids steampunk’s potentially quasi-reactionary tendencies: it is about ingenuity, generativity, independence, and ... See more

“Through mechanization, automation, cybernetic direction, this authoritarian technics has as last successfully overcome its most serious weakness: its original dependence upon resistant, sometime actively disobedient servo-mechanisms, still human enough to harbor purposes that do not always coincide with those of the system” (ADT, 5). In other word... See more

The streets that connect the district are lined with sensors that measure energy use and traffic flow as a means of quantifying sustainability to support its highest concentration of LEED-certified projects in the world. Songdo also features a massive seaside park outfitted with self-sustaining irrigation systems to provide ample public space. At t... See more

Initiated by the Korean government in the late 90s with the first stage of development being completed in 2015, Songdo aimed at becoming the world’s first fully functioning and liveable smart city. And to accomplish this goal some of the world’s most advanced urban technologies were utilised:

Early cyberpunk was awash with neon lights and futuristic electronics, with Japanese signs adorning the front of every shop window. This is largely to do with the fact that in the 80s, Japan was seen as the world’s fastest rising power. The Japanese car industry was surpassing America’s, they were dominating the global electronics industry, and eve... See more