draadleven

Draadleven is a Dutch term used in technology studies and urban discourse to describe the ways in which living systems, social practices, and infrastructures are entangled with electrical and digital networks. The concept refers to life that is mediated, maintained, and augmented by cables, energy flows, sensors, and data streams, rather than existing independently of them.

Etymology and scope: The word combines draad (wire) and leven (life). It has appeared in discussions within technology studies, urban studies, and speculative design to challenge traditional boundaries between natural and built environments and to foreground infrastructural mediation as part of daily life.

Applications: In urban contexts, draadleven is used to analyze how residents depend on power and connectivity, how outages disrupt communities, and how smart-grid and Internet of Things deployments alter routines, labor, and governance. In design discourse, it informs speculative futures that explore coexistence with, or adaptation to, pervasive networks. In theory, it aligns with concepts such as infrastructural realism and actor-network theory, emphasizing relationality and interdependence between humans, devices, and infrastructures.

Criticism: Some critics warn that the term risks techno-determinism or erases social power dynamics underlying infrastructure. Others note that it can romanticize dependence on technology or overlook ecological and political constraints.

See also: infrastructure studies, network society, smart grid, Internet of Things, urban metabolism, actor-network theory.