Spectacle and/as the New Urban Aesthetic

Degen, Monica, and Gillian Rose

Dossiers, no. 1, vol. 8March 30, 2023<March 30, 2023

Spectacle and/as the New Urban Aesthetic

Monica Degen and Gillian Rose

Emphasising the sensory experience of the digitally mediated city, Monica Degen and Gillian Rose propose critical tactics for understanding the everyday power relations of the “new urban aesthetic.”

Dossiers, no. 1, vol. 8March 30, 2023<March 30, 2023

Corporate Afrofuturism: Development Strategies for African Smart Cities

Kola Heyward-Rotimi

Kola Heyward-Rotimi investigates the speculative aesthetics of “corporate Afrofuturism” as a mode of neoliberal world-building. For smart city projects such as Nigeria’s Eko Atlantic, international architecture firms render digital projections of the continent’s urban future.

Dossiers, no. 1, vol. 8March 29, 2023<March 29, 2023

Intentional Wanghong Environments Mediating Urban Futures in Xiongan New Area

Antonie Angerer

Exploring China’s latest megacity, Xiongan New Area, Antonie Angerer shows how social media and urban-digital spectacle have become incorporated into the urban planning process.

Dossiers, no. 1, vol. 8March 28, 2023<March 29, 2023

“Influencers crush Wukang Road”: Creating Wanghong Landscapes in the Former French Concession in Shanghai

Chensi Shen

The former French Concession in Shanghai has become a key destination for tourists and social media influencers. Chensi Shen investigates the area’s cultural symbolism and its new status as an urban-digital landscape.

Dossiers, no. 1, vol. 8March 27, 2023<March 27, 2023

The Urban Attention Economy: How Our Cities Are Rebuilt for Social Media

Petter Törnberg

Urban aesthetics have become social media aesthetics, argues Petter Törnberg. Drawing on research from São Paolo, Törnberg shows how the logics of social media have become integral to the new urban attention economy.

Dossiers, no. 1, vol. 8March 27, 2023<April 20, 2023

Introduction: Urban-Digital Spectacle

Amy Y. Zhang, Asa Roast, and Carwyn Morris

In their introduction to the dossier on urban-digital spectacle, Amy Y. Zhang, Asa Roast, and Carwyn Morris reflect on the complex roles that digital technology and social media play in the production and consumption of urban space.

Deep Dives, no. 4, vol. 7November 30, 2022<January 25, 2023

Wanghong Urbanism: Towards a New Urban-Digital Spectacle

Amy Y. Zhang, Asa Roast, and Carwyn Morris

What happens when a place achieves celebrity status on social media? Amy Y. Zhang, Asa Roast and Carwyn Morris introduce the term “wanghong urbanism” to theorize the construction of urban-digital spectacle and discuss the implications of the phenomenon for cities in China and beyond.