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

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.