Introduction

Abstract

This chapter provides an overview of the territory and arguments that The Digital City explores. In recent work on digital and mobile media technologies, scholarly perspectives have broadened to recognize positive associations between digital media and experiences of place. Humans and machines are no longer readily perceived as mutually exclusive categories, nor are they treated as separate considerations for designers of everyday experience. People work with technologies to move through and experience places. This book aims to illustrate and analyze the ways actors are actually using digital technologies and practices to re-embed themselves within urban space and to create a sense of place for themselves and others. Although there are copious cautionary tales around the potential for digital media to dissociate or liberate us from the confines of physical locations, we’ve lacked careful attention to the ways people actually use digital media to become placemakers. Creating and controlling a sense of place is still the primary way that we connect with our environments, interact with others, and express our identities. The Digital City offers a new theoretical framework for thinking about our relationship to digital media by reconceptualizing common, everyday interactions with digital media as placemaking activities.