Project

Urban heat, wireless signals, urban noise and artificial light emissions have three things in common: First, physics would describe them as waves. Second, they invisibly propagate through urban air and atmospheres. Third, they interfere with the material urban fabric and the social. In the WAVEMATTERS project we trace and explore these phenomena through ethnographic research. The full official title of this ERC-funded project is:
 
Urban Vibrations: How physical waves come to matter in contemporary urbanism 

Conceptually, the WAVEMATTERS project builds on research in science and technology studies (STS), anthropology and geography that focuses on urban health hazards, controversies around environmental risks and atmospheric phenomena. Empirically, we focus on noise in Barcelona (Spain) and Paris (France), on heat in Madrid (Spain), Podgorica (Montenegro) and Las Vegas (USA), wireless signals in Brussels (Belgium) and the risk governance of electromagnetic waves including mobile phone signals and artificial light.
 
In all these contexts we ask: Who is affected and burdened by these phenomena and how do affected people, decision-makers and planners make sense of invisible exposures to physical waves? Furtheremore, we are interested in how cities adapt to disturbing waves. How do they mitigate heat, environmental noise or public controversies over electromagnetic fields (EMF) and ‘light pollution’?