Opportunities of Media and Communication Technology to Support Social Networks of Urban Residents in Mexico, South Africa, UK and Australia

Australian Research Council Linkage International Award (LX0776580) 2007 – 2008

The design of technological solutions to facilitate social interaction of urban residents is increasingly important for many countries. Mexico and South Africa are particularly prone to issues that stem from urban densification and a lack of adequate affordable housing. Governments look at ICT to take on a mediating and facilitating role. This proposal brings together the expertise of researchers from four continents in a two year collaborative study. The team will examine local case studies to prepare an international comparison of local community networking approaches.

This proposal brings together the knowledge and skills of researchers from Cape Town, Oxford, Manchester and Brisbane in a two year collaborative project. The team will select and examine four case studies in Mexico, South Africa, the UK and Australia. The research is genuinely cross-disciplinary, drawing in expertise from community informatics, urban sociology, new media, computer science, human-computer interaction, and communication studies.

Team

• Dr Marcus Foth (Chief Investigator)
• Prof. William H. Dutton (Overseas Investigator)
• Prof. Wallace Taylor (Overseas Investigator)
• Dr Victor M. Gonzalez (Overseas Investigator)

Partners

• Australian Research Council
• Oxford Internet Institute
• Cape Peninsula University of Technology
• University of Manchester

Publications

• Foth, M., Gonzalez, V. M., & Kraemer, K. L. (2008, Dec 8-12). Design Considerations for Community Portals in Master-Planned Developments in Australia and Mexico. In F. Vetere, C. Graham & C. Satchell (Eds.), Proceedings of OZCHI 2008 (pp. 33-40). Cairns, QLD: James Cook University. (eprints >)
• Foth, M., Odendaal, N., & Hearn, G. (2007, Oct 15-16). The View from Everywhere: Towards an Epistemology for Urbanites. In D. Remenyi (Ed.), Proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Intellectual Capital, Knowledge Management and Organisational Learning (ICICKM) (pp. 127-133). Cape Town, South Africa. (eprints >)
• Foth, M., Gonzalez, V. M., & Taylor, W. (2006, Nov 20-24). Designing for Place-Based Social Interaction of Urban Residents in México, South Africa and Australia. In J. Kjeldskov & J. Paay (Eds.), Proceedings of OZCHI 2006 (pp. 345-348). Sydney, NSW: University of Technology, Sydney. (eprints >)