Urban-Digital Spectacle Workshop

Date: June 8 – 9, 2022

Location: London, Well Grounded, Kings Cross

Organizer: Amy Yueming Zhang and Carwyn Morris

During a two-day workshop on the Urban Digital Spectacle, Antonie Angerer (researcher in the project Social Worlds: China's Cities as Spaces of Worldmaking) was invited to present her paper “Performing urban futures: Digital spectacle in early urbanization process of Xiongan New Area”.

The workshop explored the relationship between spectacle, urban space, and digital platforms by considering the role that urban aesthetics, social practices, social media platforms and/or internet fame play in changing urban and digital landscapes. An inter-disciplinary group of researchers and industry professionals exchanged on how a multitude of actors - including urban businesses, influencers, brand management firms, placemaking companies, platform companies, and governments – can influence urban and digital development through the way they create and manage urban-digital spectacle, including through aesthetics and practices. The workshop explored this through a mixture of long-form presentations, critical roundtable discussions and a walking tour.

Participants: Rachel Berryman, Crystal Abidin, Tama Leaver, Dino Ge Zhang, Jian Lin, Shichang Duan, Anna Liu, Nicola Rutt, Krish Raghav, Chensi Shen, Xinyu Li, Li Shuangzi, Kath Bassett, John Boy, Zlatan Krajina, Jeroen de Kloet Cao Liu, Scott Rodgers, Jin Lee, Crystal Abidin, Petter Törnberg, Gillian Rose, Monica Degen, Justus Uitermark, Asa Roast, Antonie Angerer