Governing Transportation Through Communication: A Cultural History of Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) in South Korea

Authors

  • Chamee Yang Seoul National University

Keywords:

communication and transportation, Intelligent Transportation System (ITS), Traffic Culture Index (TCI), urban network system, governmentality, infrastructure

Abstract

This article examines the role of communication in governing transportation in cities, focusing on the history of traffic management in South Korea. It analyzes 2 concrete developments: Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) and the Traffic Culture Index (TCI). Drawing from cultural studies of transportation and infrastructures and science and technology studies (STS), this article explores the changing sociotechnical dynamics between transportation, communication, and culture that supported the government’s efforts to recalibrate scientific methods to govern urban infrastructural flows. It demonstrates how these systems furthered the long-term governmental objectives of understanding and civilizing the movements of data, bodies, and things, reflecting the increasing relevance of computational systems as a metaphor and a model for controlling urban environments. By tracing the historical convergence of communication and transportation, the article argues that this integration signifies a growing dominance of communication over transportation, marking a shift in the government’s regulatory function.

Author Biography

Chamee Yang, Seoul National University

Chamee Yang (she/her/hers) is an Assistant Professor of Communication at Seoul National University in South Korea, and an affiliate of Community Data Clinic (CDC) at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Her research focuses on the history and politics of datafication, infrastructure development, and global regime of “smartness.” Chamee Yang (she/her/hers) is an Assistant Professor of Communication at Seoul National University in South Korea and an affiliate of the Community Data Clinic (CDC) at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Her research focuses on the history and politics of datafication, infrastructure development, and the global regime of “smartness.”

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Published

2024-09-14

Issue

Vol. 18 (2024)

Section

Articles

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