Symposium

Inclusive Cities
New Methods to Understand Informal Infrastructure Access

May 28–29, 2024

Rudolf Wolf Room, Collegium Helveticum

Organized by

Yael Borofsky
Early-Career Fellow 2023–2024

Isabel Günther
Associate Fellow

Informations

Venue & accessibility info: Rudolf Wolf Room, Collegium Helveticum

Participation is free of charge but by invitation only. If you would like to attend the symposium, please contact the organizer, Yael Borofsky.

Virtual participation is possible on both days:
Zoom link for May 28
Zoom link for May 29
Auto-captioning is available.

The keynote on May 28, the exhibition, and the reception are open to the public, please register here.

Over the course of two days, this symposium will feature a transdisciplinary array of perspectives from academia and practice on the opportunities, challenges, and ethics of AI and remote sensing for studying infrastructure in informal settlements. The participants will cover topics such as using remote sensing to identify informal settlements, using AI to study infrastructure, and what the future of urban infrastructure governance will look like with AI.

Program
Tuesday, May 28

13:00	Arrival to the venue and registration
13:30	Opening and welcome remarks Yael Borofsky Collegium Helveticum Isabel Günther ETH Zurich, CH
13:45	New Ways of “Seeing” Informal Settlements Seminar moderated by Isabel Günther (ETH Zurich) and Thabisa Mayapi (BM Section Informal Settlement). Ken Harttgen ETH Zurich, CH Arianna Salazar Miranda University of Chicago, US
15:15	Coffee break
15:30	Sensors for Studying the City When it is “Smart” in Informal Settlements Seminar moderated by Somayeh Dodge (Collegium Helveticum). Paul Kyoma Urban Action Lab, UG June Lukuyu University of Washington, US Yamkela Rongwana PJS Informal Settlement, ZA
17:00	Electricity and Service Provision in Informal Settlements Keynote Xolelwa Maha PJS Informal Settlement, ZA Yamkela Rongwana PJS Informal Settlement, ZA Thabisa Mayapi BM Section Informal Settlement, ZA In the Meridian Hall
18:00–19:00	Urban Lighting Realities 4D Virtual Settlements from Cape Town to Sarajevo Exhibition curated by Yael Borofsky (Collegium Helveticum) and Michael Walczak (ETH Zurich) with contributions by Federico Caprotti and Spotlight Kampala. Accompanied by a reception, sponsored by ETH4D.

Wednesday, May 29

09:00	Arrival to the venue and registration
09:30	Hyper Local: Mixing Advanced Technologies and Deep Engagement Case Studies in Transdisciplinary Research on Informal Settlements Panel moderated by Jess Kersey (UC Berkeley). Michael Walczak ETH Zurich, CH Federico Caprotti University of Exeter, UK Xolelwa Maha PJS Informal Settlement, ZA Judith Mbabazi Makerere University, UG
10:45	Coffee break
11:15	AI for “Seeing” Infrastructure in Informal Settlements Workshop with inputs by Yael Borofsky (Collegium Helveticum) and Jess Kersey (UC Berkeley).
12:30	Lunch break
14:00	Ethics of Big Data for Studying Informal Settlements Keynote Moderated by Tea Lobo (ETH Zurich). Michael Nagenborg University of Twente, NL Isaac Oluoch University of Twente, NL
15:15	Future of Urban Service Provision and Informality in the Age of AI Panel discussion moderated by Sarah Sabry (Save the Children & Global Alliance–Cities for Children) and David Kostenwein (ETH Zurich). Federico Caprotti University of Exeter, UK Thandeka Tshabalala City of Cape Town, ZA Peter Mwesiga UMEME Uganda
16:30	Closing remarks