Keir Bowater

Broken Tech Broken Earth

Abbey people community group: The Hub, 15 Barnwell Rd, Cambridge CB5 8RG

Keir Bowater is a local resident who grew up in the 90s and has been living in Cambridge’s Abbey ward since 2022. Keir is a former software engineer and now volunteers at the Abbey People community group, which makes him acutely aware of the direct issues caused by the Cambridge Phenomenon on local residents in Cambridge. He describes “the poor folks in areas such as Abbey Ward did not see any of the wealth generated by Cambridge’s tech.”

There are higher costs of living all over the UK but particularly in Cambridge there’s pressure to prioritise commercial over community spaces. However, Keir still sees the Cambridge tech history to have positively contributed to innovation and a thriving tech industry. He believes that two things can be true at the same time and Cambridge’s tech history has in his eyes had little positive impact on the geography and local communities in Cambridge. Keir hopes that more work can be done alongside residents in the area to improve the neighbourhoods outside of Cambridge’s reputation as a tech hub.

This story was shared by a volunteer as part of the Broken Tech, Broken Earth project which aims to co-create events with the local community about the social, historical and environmental impacts of technology.  This project is externally funded by the Esmeé Fairbairn Collections Fund as part of the Museum Association.

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