In search of a South-to-South Dialogue: From Smart Urbanism to Infrastructure of Oppression/Aspiration—Tooran Alizadeh seminar with InfUr

This presentation took place on Thursday 13th November 2025 with Tooran Alizadeh.

Abstract: In this talk, Prof. Tooran Alizadeh takes us through a journey of her research in search of a South-to-South dialogue – from smart urbanism to an intersectional approach towards data centres as material infrastructure of oppression/aspiration(?) in the digital age.

Tooran Alizadeh is an intersectional feminist from the Global Majority, and a Professor of Urbanism and Infrastructure in the School of Architecture Design and Planning at the University of Sydney. Tooran, nevertheless, acknowledges two decades of living and working on the unceded lands of the First Nations people in Australia. Her ongoing research spans smart urbanism, digital geographies, infrastructure, and Southern urbanism; is supported by a variety of funding sources (including an ongoing Australin Research Council Future Fellowship); and has resulted in over 100 refereed publications and meaningful contribution to the public discourse around the equity implications of infrastructure development. She is also the Associate Editor of Telematics and Informatics.