Historic narratives form a broad picture of perhaps a common wish for a utopia of a safe, reliable, convenient, highly communicative, comfortable, efficient, fast, clean and inexpensive transport system that is freed of the drudgery of congestion, accidents and pollution and also make the public realm an appealing liveable environment.

Questions emerge from an appreciation of the social and cultural history of autonomous vehicles (AV) freed from limitations set by manufacturers and engineers. Cultural research indicates that social expectations of AV and a fully AV environment are higher than limited industry standards[1], this is a hypothesis of the project and which further research will assess. The social research revealed that communities and governments are critical of the motor industry’s environmental standards[2]. This issue has become an important guiding framework in the development of the project. AV is being developed in the contemporary era of climate change and fossil fuelled motor vehicles[3] contribute to climate change[4], consequently the project is centred on an ecological framework the foundation of which lies in Capra, Fritof and Luisi, Pier Luigi. 2014. The Systems View of Life: a unifying vision (UK Cambridge: Cambridge University Press).

Synthesised technical research suggests that AV, if considered as a living transport system could assist in improving environmental outcomes in the future. The project hypothesises that if AV systems are conceptualised as a living system, a semiotic[5] networked ‘living transport ecology’ being part of an environmental framework for a sustainable transport modality, that is environmentally sustainable may arise.

A symposium methodology has been developed for the project to obtain interdisciplinary data through dialogue between researchers and specialists in an academic setting. My current research identifies a gap in interdisciplinary knowledge specifically in relation to connected autonomous vehicle (CAV) impacts on the urban and the ecological, this is a critical aspect of my praxis as an urban designer / architect in major infrastructure. It appears that research about the urban and environmental should extend beyond specialists, industry leaders and researchers and should include everybody or everything that have rights to the city. The symposium methodology is a development of current interview and action-based research methods combined with contemporary architectural praxis for interdisciplinary design. Thought leaders will discuss scenarios specific to the research question and hypothesis stimulated through drawings to critically assess and the explain the benefits and consequences as part of the PhD by project. This research could be useful for urban designers, governments and industry to gain an appreciation of the beneficial effects of the technology on the public realm. This research will be an extension of my research practice in major infrastructure.

Autonomous renewable energy vehicles (AREV) intelligence will need to understand or appreciate cultural phenomena and respond appropriately in the driverless future. People in the streetscape will need to be able to communicate and understand the intentions of the AREV. This may seem like an engineering problem, but this research claims it as a cultural and behavioural issue and one which affects the sensory qualities of the public realm. AREV communication systems (auditory, visual, haptic and cybernetic) and the environment in which they appear could be conceptualised as a living technoecology[1], a networked ‘living transport ecology’. This is part of the hypothesis for the project. As a sensory issue, road-based semiotics should be claimed by artists to resolve both as a linguistic and aesthetic concept that moves beyond the limitations of the current visual only sensibility.

The research suggests that a transfiguration of the communications and aesthetics of the built environment could result from the technology. In this scenario, the objective would be that people will understand what the AREV are doing in a culturally sensitive, environmentally sensitive and aesthetically appealing manner; the thesis will assess this approach. This type of research is experimental and provocative and could be useful to industry and to governments in determining future AV policy and advancing environmental and urban outcomes. In its unity, the proposal is an aesthetic research contribution.

Keywords

Autonomous vehicles, renewable energy autonomous vehicles, intelligent city, technoecology, social and cultural history of autonomous vehicles and the city

1. Society for Automated Engineers (SAE), the society was the first to officially define the levels of vehicle autonomy which have generally been accepted by industry and governments internationally as a reference. SAE (2018-06-15 revised) Taxonomy and Definitions for Terms Related to Driving Automation Systems for On-Road Motor Vehicles J3016_201806<https://www.sae.org/standards/content/j3016_201806/> Accessed on 30 March 2019.

2. Hubert Gude, Dietmar Hawranek, Gerald Traufetter and Christian Wüst.  6 November 2015 06:40 PM. The German Government's Role in the VW Scandal (Spiegel Online) <http://www.spiegel.de/international/business/vw-scandal-exposes-deep-complicity-of-government-a-1061615.html> Accessed on 19 March 2019.

3. Jean-Paul Rodrigue (2019) The Geography of Transport Systems (Transportation and the Environment] <https://transportgeography.org/?page_id=5711>[Accessed June 2019].

4. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. 2018. Summary for Policymakers: Global Warming of 1.5° C (UN IPCC) see C. Emission Pathways and System Transitions Consistent with 1.5°C (C.1.3) Global Warming <https://www.ipcc.ch/sr15/chapter/summary-for-policy-makers/> [Accessed 31 March 2019]

5. Semiotics in this research is the study of sign process. It includes the study of signs and sign processes, indication, designation, likeness, analogy, allegory, metonymy, metaphor, symbolism, signification, and communication.

6. José Lahoz‐Monfort. 2018. Futurecasting ecological research: the rise of technoecology- Allan - 2018 - Ecosphere - Wiley Online Library. ‘Technoecology’ is defined as transformative technological advances for studying species and environments. This includes bio‐batteries, low‐power and long‐range telemetry, the internet of things, swarm theory, 3D printing, mapping molecular movement, and low‐power computers to name a few. These technologies have the potential to revolutionize ecology by providing ‘next‐generation’ ecological data, particularly when integrated with each other, and in doing so could be applied to address a diverse range of requirements. Critical to technoecology's rate of advancement will be fostering increased interdisciplinary collaboration.

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