ICT ownership and the right to the hybrid city

The core premise of this work is that for information and communication technologies (ICTs) to fulfil their promises for increased self-organization, civic engagement, and participation in planning, among others, they must be owned by the parties involved and customized according to their needs, values and objectives through a dynamic social learning process. The ownership of an ICT framework could range from its social software, to the storage and management of all content and information produced, all the way to the underlying network infrastructure. For example, by choosing a customizable ICT system built according to the FOSS (free and open source software) paradigm, a local community can define itself the rules that shape the communication between the inhabitants of the produced hybrid space at the city or neighbourhood level. If additionally there is the option to deploy user-owned wireless technology as in wireless community networks, one can further ensure the de facto physical proximity, grant easy access for everyone, and allow the choice of the desired level of anonymity. In this paper I will review existing platforms encouraging information flows between citizens and governments, and between people residing in physical proximity, as a function of their ownership structure and discuss the corresponding trade-offs. I will then describe a very simple information sharing game and its variations subject to different framing, ownership and design options. I will argue that there are many crucial details that can play a decisive role in shaping the behaviour of the participants and reaching the agreed upon social objectives. Finally, combining concepts and knowledge from the fields of computer science, behavioural economics, and urban planning, I will propose a bottom-up social learning methodology for allowing local communities to define their own hybrid space, exchange experiences and knowledge, and compete with global corporations such as Google and Facebook for the “right to the hybrid city”