Edgelands Institute is a multi-disciplinary organization that uses academic research, data, and art to explore how the digitalization of urban security is changing the urban social contract — the often-unseen rules that govern our cities. We create pop-up spaces that bring citizens, policymakers, academics, and other stakeholders into dialogue about the way that digital tools are being used by city governments and transforming urban social fabric.

The Edgelands Institute is a global movement. We set up temporary residence in select cities across the globe that have made innovative strides in their use of digital technologies, particularly in application to security. Our first stop is Medellín, Colombia, where we are engaging local youth in research and activism that focuses on how city leaders are using surveillance tools to address crime in the city.

What are the "edgelands?" The "Edgelands" is a term used by city planners to describe the transitional, liminal areas of space found on the boundaries of country and town. As the global population continues to urbanize and cities grow, these boundaries may begin to blur or even disappear altogether.

At the Edgelands Institute, we've applied this concept of liminal space to the boundaries between public and private life in urban spaces. Digital tools used to monitor people and places or exchange information have the capacity to change the frameworks of authority (the social contract) between a government and its citizens.

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