'Design' Towards Digital Transformation of Cities

ICT evolution drives the smart city development of the last decade and raises many critical questions. The new wave of smart city initiatives, conceptualised as “digital transformation”, emphasises the human-centeredness and holistic value of urban complex system. This imposes requirements for the engagement of “design” and creates opportunities for the technological development of “design” in cities. The shift in technology for design prompts researchers and practitioners to rethink the “values of design”, the “logic of design”, and the “technological basis of design”. Based on the three dimensions, the author’s team conducted a series of practices in Shuangjing Street, Beijing, as an exploration of what is “design” in the context of digital transformation.