Aesthetic Activism and the Quest for Authenticity in a Time of Crisis

Brandi T. Summers

Dossiers, Mediapolis on Coronavirus, no. 3, vol. 6June 14, 2021<June 14, 2021

Aesthetic Activism and the Quest for Authenticity in a Time of Crisis

by Brandi T. Summers

The global pandemic has exposed fissures of race and class in Washington DC. Brandi Summers examines how the aesthetics of blackness have been co-opted in the gentrifying city during a period of crisis.

Dossiers, Mediapolis on Coronavirus, no. 3, vol. 6June 14, 2021<June 14, 2021

How Mobility-by-Proxy Aesthetically Gentrifies Amsterdam’s Empty Streets

by Daan Wesselman

How have bike delivery services changed the aesthetics and politics of the cityscape during lockdown? Daan Wesselman discusses mobility-by-proxy, visual branding, and "gentrification on wheels" in Amsterdam.

Dossiers, Mediapolis on Coronavirus, no. 3, vol. 6June 14, 2021<September 1, 2021

Gentrification and the White Spatial Imaginary: Notes from Little Tokyo in Lockdown

by Jonathan Jae-an Crisman

COVID-19 has created new challenges for community activism in Los Angeles. Jonathan Jae-an Crisman discusses gains and setbacks for Little Tokyo's anti-gentrification arts activists during the pandemic.

Dossiers, Mediapolis on Coronavirus, no. 3, vol. 6June 14, 2021<June 14, 2021

A Pandemic in the Design City: Montreal During a Quiet Time

by Guillaume Sirois

The COVID-19 pandemic has interrupted Montreal’s efforts to become a “design city.” Guillaume Sirois scrutinizes the city’s urban design policies and examines the impact of lockdown on its design boutiques and flagship public spaces.

Dossiers, Mediapolis on Coronavirus, no. 3, vol. 6June 14, 2021<June 14, 2021

Streets for People of Las Vegas

by Susanna Phillips Newbury

Susanna Phillips Newbury looks at zoning, urban development, and gentrification in Las Vegas before and during the pandemic, critiquing the city government’s claims to make “Streets for People.”

Dossiers, Mediapolis on Coronavirus, no. 3, vol. 6June 14, 2021<June 14, 2021

Aesthetics of Vacancy in Lockdown London

by Christoph Lindner

Christoph Lindner introduces a six-part dossier on Lockdown Aesthetics and Gentrification. In this opening post, he argues that gentrification has accelerated in London under the cover of the COVID-19 pandemic and its aesthetics of vacancy.

Deep Dives, no. 1, vol. 5March 6, 2020<March 6, 2020

Assembling the Cosmopublic: Art Intelligence and Object-Oriented Citizenship

by Hai Ren

Hai Ren rethinks the creative city away from its anthropocentricism and toward a nonhuman art intelligence

no. 4, Student Voices, vol. 2October 27, 2017<October 26, 2017

Ruins, Representation, and the Right to the City

by Spencer Cunningham

In “Ruins, Representation and the Right to the City,” Spencer Cunningham provides a deft summary of the ongoing discussion surrounding the redevelopment of the City of Detroit, exploring the aesthetics (or, rather, the aestheticization) of the city’s urban ruins, and the contradictory forces of gentrification that continue into the present day.