Public Space at the “Palm of a Hand”: Perceptions of Urban Projects Through Digital Media

Detalhes bibliográficos
Autor(a) principal: Ioannou, Byron
Data de Publicação: 2021
Outros Autores: Kalnis, Gregoris, Nicolaou, Lora
Tipo de documento: Artigo
Idioma: eng
Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
Texto Completo: https://doi.org/10.17645/up.v6i4.4490
Resumo: This article examines the interactions between digital and social media as the contemporary incubators of place perceptions and the critical debate of environmental quality. Digital and social media may change the way people live but not the way they use physical spaces. This indirect reading of place acts in terms of perceptual understanding in a number of ways, but, most importantly, it becomes fundamental in the “construction” of the sense of place. This is because it impacts on the way information is associated with reality or a contract of the reality which is generated through its “interference” with our intellectual and emotive understanding of place. At the same time, the politics of a new “sociality” contains participations and exclusions. The article adopts comparative case study research as the methodological approach for investigating notions of how urban space is perceived through the case study of Eleftheria Square in Nicosia, a controversial urban regeneration project that generated an extensive debate through digital and social media in Cyprus during the last two decades. It is an attempt of a parallel decoding of (i) a more formal or directive view through digital newspapers’ survey and (ii) an informal view through a Facebook group content analysis. Through the case study, the inefficiencies and potentialities of the new media tools in informing the wider public are clear by providing at the same time evidence of their priorities, preferences, and fears. The article comes to two basic conclusions: (i) the perceptions of urban projects through digital media are not static but fluent and constantly updated, usually turning positive as projects are completed and experienced; and (ii) the interactive and synchronous nature of social media provides a more accurate and updated picture of the society’s changing perceptions of public space.
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spelling Public Space at the “Palm of a Hand”: Perceptions of Urban Projects Through Digital Mediadigital media; Eleftheria Square; Facebook groups; Nicosia; public space; urban design; urban regeneration; Zaha HadidThis article examines the interactions between digital and social media as the contemporary incubators of place perceptions and the critical debate of environmental quality. Digital and social media may change the way people live but not the way they use physical spaces. This indirect reading of place acts in terms of perceptual understanding in a number of ways, but, most importantly, it becomes fundamental in the “construction” of the sense of place. This is because it impacts on the way information is associated with reality or a contract of the reality which is generated through its “interference” with our intellectual and emotive understanding of place. At the same time, the politics of a new “sociality” contains participations and exclusions. The article adopts comparative case study research as the methodological approach for investigating notions of how urban space is perceived through the case study of Eleftheria Square in Nicosia, a controversial urban regeneration project that generated an extensive debate through digital and social media in Cyprus during the last two decades. It is an attempt of a parallel decoding of (i) a more formal or directive view through digital newspapers’ survey and (ii) an informal view through a Facebook group content analysis. Through the case study, the inefficiencies and potentialities of the new media tools in informing the wider public are clear by providing at the same time evidence of their priorities, preferences, and fears. The article comes to two basic conclusions: (i) the perceptions of urban projects through digital media are not static but fluent and constantly updated, usually turning positive as projects are completed and experienced; and (ii) the interactive and synchronous nature of social media provides a more accurate and updated picture of the society’s changing perceptions of public space.Cogitatio2021-11-17info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersioninfo:eu-repo/semantics/articleapplication/pdfhttps://doi.org/10.17645/up.v6i4.4490oai:ojs.cogitatiopress.com:article/4490Urban Planning; Vol 6, No 4 (2021): Towards Digital Urban Regeneration: Embedding Digital Technologies into Urban Renewal Processes and Development; 242-2562183-7635reponame:Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)instname:Agência para a Sociedade do Conhecimento (UMIC) - FCT - Sociedade da Informaçãoinstacron:RCAAPenghttps://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/4490https://doi.org/10.17645/up.v6i4.4490https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/4490/4490Copyright (c) 2021 Byron Ioannou, Gregoris Kalnis, Lora Nicolaouhttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessIoannou, ByronKalnis, GregorisNicolaou, Lora2022-12-20T10:59:35Zoai:ojs.cogitatiopress.com:article/4490Portal AgregadorONGhttps://www.rcaap.pt/oai/openaireopendoar:71602024-03-19T16:21:43.404405Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos) - Agência para a Sociedade do Conhecimento (UMIC) - FCT - Sociedade da Informaçãofalse
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv Public Space at the “Palm of a Hand”: Perceptions of Urban Projects Through Digital Media
title Public Space at the “Palm of a Hand”: Perceptions of Urban Projects Through Digital Media
spellingShingle Public Space at the “Palm of a Hand”: Perceptions of Urban Projects Through Digital Media
Ioannou, Byron
digital media; Eleftheria Square; Facebook groups; Nicosia; public space; urban design; urban regeneration; Zaha Hadid
title_short Public Space at the “Palm of a Hand”: Perceptions of Urban Projects Through Digital Media
title_full Public Space at the “Palm of a Hand”: Perceptions of Urban Projects Through Digital Media
title_fullStr Public Space at the “Palm of a Hand”: Perceptions of Urban Projects Through Digital Media
title_full_unstemmed Public Space at the “Palm of a Hand”: Perceptions of Urban Projects Through Digital Media
title_sort Public Space at the “Palm of a Hand”: Perceptions of Urban Projects Through Digital Media
author Ioannou, Byron
author_facet Ioannou, Byron
Kalnis, Gregoris
Nicolaou, Lora
author_role author
author2 Kalnis, Gregoris
Nicolaou, Lora
author2_role author
author
dc.contributor.author.fl_str_mv Ioannou, Byron
Kalnis, Gregoris
Nicolaou, Lora
dc.subject.por.fl_str_mv digital media; Eleftheria Square; Facebook groups; Nicosia; public space; urban design; urban regeneration; Zaha Hadid
topic digital media; Eleftheria Square; Facebook groups; Nicosia; public space; urban design; urban regeneration; Zaha Hadid
description This article examines the interactions between digital and social media as the contemporary incubators of place perceptions and the critical debate of environmental quality. Digital and social media may change the way people live but not the way they use physical spaces. This indirect reading of place acts in terms of perceptual understanding in a number of ways, but, most importantly, it becomes fundamental in the “construction” of the sense of place. This is because it impacts on the way information is associated with reality or a contract of the reality which is generated through its “interference” with our intellectual and emotive understanding of place. At the same time, the politics of a new “sociality” contains participations and exclusions. The article adopts comparative case study research as the methodological approach for investigating notions of how urban space is perceived through the case study of Eleftheria Square in Nicosia, a controversial urban regeneration project that generated an extensive debate through digital and social media in Cyprus during the last two decades. It is an attempt of a parallel decoding of (i) a more formal or directive view through digital newspapers’ survey and (ii) an informal view through a Facebook group content analysis. Through the case study, the inefficiencies and potentialities of the new media tools in informing the wider public are clear by providing at the same time evidence of their priorities, preferences, and fears. The article comes to two basic conclusions: (i) the perceptions of urban projects through digital media are not static but fluent and constantly updated, usually turning positive as projects are completed and experienced; and (ii) the interactive and synchronous nature of social media provides a more accurate and updated picture of the society’s changing perceptions of public space.
publishDate 2021
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv 2021-11-17
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dc.type.driver.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/article
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dc.identifier.uri.fl_str_mv https://doi.org/10.17645/up.v6i4.4490
oai:ojs.cogitatiopress.com:article/4490
url https://doi.org/10.17645/up.v6i4.4490
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dc.language.iso.fl_str_mv eng
language eng
dc.relation.none.fl_str_mv https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/4490
https://doi.org/10.17645/up.v6i4.4490
https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/4490/4490
dc.rights.driver.fl_str_mv Copyright (c) 2021 Byron Ioannou, Gregoris Kalnis, Lora Nicolaou
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
rights_invalid_str_mv Copyright (c) 2021 Byron Ioannou, Gregoris Kalnis, Lora Nicolaou
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
eu_rights_str_mv openAccess
dc.format.none.fl_str_mv application/pdf
dc.publisher.none.fl_str_mv Cogitatio
publisher.none.fl_str_mv Cogitatio
dc.source.none.fl_str_mv Urban Planning; Vol 6, No 4 (2021): Towards Digital Urban Regeneration: Embedding Digital Technologies into Urban Renewal Processes and Development; 242-256
2183-7635
reponame:Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
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