The rise of the info-state is about not only money and technology, but also loyalty and collective identity. As the Canadian scholar Daniel Bell argues, we are entering an age of “civic-ism,” in which pride in one’s city supersedes national patriotism. The “city-zen” is the new citizen. We identify ourselves as much or more as New Yorkers as Americans—and so many expats and immigrants in New York feel the same way….The measure of success in the age of info-states isn’t wealth or security alone but also Technik, the capacity to harness emerging technologies for the benefit of the population.

‘Technik’ and the City: How Urban Centers Like New York and Tokyo Are Becoming Info-States