On the Value of Locality

The degree of transportation of people and goods required by our contemporary world undoubtedly takes a toll on the environment. Technology networks have enabled us to make this transport more efficient than ever. But a singular focus on increasing levels of efficiency simply leads to more travel, not less. The problem of sustainability still remains.

Thackara notes one response might be the digitization of information exchange, with the hopes of replacing the need for physical travel. Why travel when you can telecommute? But while he recognizes some worthy scenarios and more nuanced design attempts at telepresence, Thackara still remains unconvinced

Even if you could capture the smells, sounds, tastes, and feel of a place, digitize them, and send them down a wire, you’d still never get near the sensation of “being there.” Why? Because we humans are not so dumb. Our minds and our bodies are one intelligence. (p.62)

Here, he evokes ideas about embodiment, that separating the physical body from a human interaction changes it into something else entirely, something that lacks the richness of human connection.

As an alternative, the author suggests a principle of locality to “design away the need to move faster and foster new time-space relations: from distance to duration, from faster to closer” (p.51). Thackara was writing before the advent of mainstream services like Uber, but he uses the example of a demand-responsive taxi service to make his point.

You ring the system, the system recognizes who you are and where, it identifies where the nearest available taxi is, and it sends that taxi to you… Now: Replace the word “taxi” in the preceding description with the word “sandwich.” Or with the words “someone to show me round the backstreets of the old town.” Or the words “nerd to come and fix my laptop.” Or the words “someone to play ping pong with.” Likewise for those who have something to offer or information to provide, as opposed to needing or wanting something… A city full of people can now be seen as a live database, full of knowledge, time, and attention—incarnated in human beings—that any of us might use. (p.86)

Technology becomes less about moving things more efficiently, and more about connecting the right people, resources, and places at the right time. It supports and builds a local context and social capital.

Since the publication of this book, I think this idea has gained ground, especially in various tech startup attempts. I don’t think it’s reached a point yet that delivers on Thackara’s hopes for technology-empowered local webs. But I can get behind the idea that design of technology can support local context and community.