Edgelands Institute is a pop-up organization incubated at the Berkman Klein Center at Harvard that facilitates conversations between policymakers, academics, artists, and other experts. Edgelands’ primary goal is to explore how the digitalization of urban security is changing the social contract — the unseen and unspoken rules — within cities. Since its launch in early 2021, Edgelands has hosted 30+ site-specific and hybrid events such as conventions, speaker series, and art exhibitions in four cities across three continents: Medellín, Cúcuta, Geneva, and Nairobi.
Our work has focused on establishing dialogue between local stakeholders and a global network of data and security experts. We study, listen, and summarize how digital tools are being used by city governments and transforming local urban social fabric; we then curate this content in dialogue with what we have learned from other cities, refining our insights and continuing to engage.