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Public Space, the Public Realm and Digital Technologies

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Wiring the Streets, Surfing the Square

Part of the book series: The Urban Book Series ((UBS))

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Abstract

This chapter delineates the scope of digital technologies and of public space, and the discourses on these two constructs. Digital technologies, as appropriated in public spatial practice, span the distinction between public space and public media. These technologies play complex roles in both exacerbating and ameliorating many of the purported contemporary crises of public space, just as they have the potential mediate between the many different publics in urban society. In all of these aspects, they have the potential of providing platforms and tools for the rehearsal of possible future publics.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Like communications technologies in general, digital technologies can be seen as both a technology and a medium. The former represents a view on these technologies as particular applications of scientific knowledge to achieve certain practical functionality, whereas the latter refers to their capacity to encode and transmit messages (a synonym for these technologies is Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs)).

  2. 2.

    The acknowledgement of the limited nature of the material and geographical resources of the world is a hallmark of the modern era, with the near totality of the urbanization and political subdivision of the planet, conflicts over essential resources and the looming specter of depletion of the materials on which contemporary economies and technologies rely.

  3. 3.

    Notwithstanding the existence of privately-owned public spaces of various types.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA

    Timothy Jachna

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  1. Timothy Jachna
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Jachna, T. (2021). Public Space, the Public Realm and Digital Technologies. In: Wiring the Streets, Surfing the Square. The Urban Book Series. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-66672-9_2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-66672-9_2

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-66671-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-66672-9

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