Originally published at: Protocols Don't Build Pyramids - Summer of Protocols
The built environment embodies an inherent conflict: The “software” of the city changes faster than the “hardware.” Even at its most flexible and adaptable, the city’s physical infrastructure is rigid in comparison to the information flows that it channels, which assume forms such as money, culture, social interaction, and even people themselves. As a middle…
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It occurs to me that high-speed rail projects are the closest thing to protocol pyramids these days.
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Not sure how to put this, but it seems to me that there isn’t only a conflict between “hardware”/the physical infrastructure and “software”/information flows, because they operate on different times.
It seems like in some cities (especially in 3rd world/developing countries) cities, or at least some layers, are drifting apart. At least in the information flow layer, maybe also in the physical layer.
Take a city like Nairobi. It feels like several (2?) cities in one.
You have richer people, driving around in Ubers (safe) and hopping from one “secure” island to another (office building, mall, gated compound/apartment), often without engaging with much of the cities besides those islands.
And you have the other people. Using public transport - ish, actually walking the roads and stuff.
They all occupy the same space but are nevertheless quite segregated.
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The discussion of traffic jams a “graceful failure” of protocols was interesting:
- we do track rainfall and traffic, but I don’t know where/how the data is used specifically, aside from google/waze probably giving data to cities for planning?
- I take the point of it, broadly, but when the lens shifts to transport more generally, I can’t help but feel traffic is often a failure. If public transit, bike sharing and even walking are mostly ignored and would have meaningful impacts on the system and the individuals, isn’t that a failure? This is probably just from a minimalist sentiment, but it seems like many car trips are unnecessary and lifestyles would benefit from taking other modes more often. Convenience is king, though, so I’ll likely drive or order delivery for the short term, personal impact.
The layers of increasingly slow → fast infrastructure and the necessity of slippage between them was a good model.
As a fan of science fiction, this quote really resonated with me:
a good science fiction story should be able to predict not the automobile but the traffic jam
I appreciated the discussion of urban planning and highlighting the example of grids as a successful, almost pyramid-tier protocol.
Yeah, I like this. The dimension isn’t just spatial or temporal, it’s class! What’s the threshold for this sort of disparity? Housing markets were referenced in the essay and it came to mind that it could be a natural tension or it could be an existential threat. The failure mode would be leaving the city entirely or even a revolution.
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