Electrosmog geographies – the invisible materiality of „smart“ and digital urban natures

Keywords: urban political ecology, urban nature, electromagnetic fields, radiation, electrosmog, smart cities
Session Type: Virtual Paper Abstract
Day: Tuesday
Session Start / End Time: 3/1/2022 11:20 AM (Eastern Time (US & Canada)) - 3/1/2022 12:40 PM (Eastern Time (US & Canada))
Room: Virtual 48

Abstract

The manifold forms of electromagnetic fields (EMFs) and the spectrum of their electrical tension constitute the invisible geographies of “smart” and digital urban worlds. However, the perception of EMFs electrical potential as "pollution", i.e. as “radiation” or "electrosmog", is highly contested and gives rise to diverse reactions that range from local protest against high voltage power lines to a whole industry promising (individualized) remediation and protection.

Taking the Austrian city of Graz as example, the paper aims to engage with the materiality of this invisible side of "smart" and "digital" cities within the relational structure of urbanization processes, i.e. urban-rural relations reverberating between "Smart Cities" in Graz and protests against high voltage power lines in surrounding rural Styria. By framing electromagnetic radiation as a form of waste and by drawing on the theoretical perspectives developed in the emerging field of waste & discard studies – in connection with the burgeoning field of energy geographies – this engagement with the contested invisible geographies of EMFs asks about the embodied meaning of energy in and beyond „smart“ and digital urban natures.