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Visions about the use of nanotechnologies in the city, including in the design and construction of built environments, suggest that these technologies could be critically important for solving urban sustainability problems. We argue that such visions often overlook two critical and interrelated elements. First, conjectures about future nano-enhanced cities tend to rely on flawed concepts of urban sustainability that underestimate the challenges presented by deeply-rooted paradigms of market economics, risk assessment, and the absorption of disruptive technologies. Second, opportunities for stakeholders such as city officials, non-governmental organizations, and citizens to consider the nature and distribution of the potential benefits and adverse effects of nano-enabled urban technologies are rarely triggered sufficiently early. Limitations in early engagement will lead to problems and missed opportunities in the use of nanotechnologies for urban sustainability. In this article, we critically explore ideas about the nano-enhanced city and its promises and limitations related to urban sustainability. On this base, we outline an agenda for engaged research to support anticipatory governance of nanotechnologies in cities.
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank our colleagues at the Center for Nanotechnology in Society at Arizona State University (CNS-ASU), particularly Ira Bennett and Erik Fisher for helpful comments on earlier versions of this article, as well as Shannon Lidberg, Rider Foley, and Robert Kutter for research assistance. This research was undertaken with support by CNS-ASU, funded by the National Science Foundation (cooperative agreement #0531194 and #0937591). The findings and observations contained in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.
Notes
We follow the US National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI) defining nanotechnology as “encompassing the science, engineering, and technology related to the understanding and control of matter at the length scale of approximately 1–100 nanometers. […] nanotechnology is not merely working with matter at the nanoscale, but also research and development of materials, devices, and systems that have novel properties and functions due to their nanoscale dimensions and components” (PCAST, 2005).