The publicness of an urban space for cultural consumption: The case of Pingjiang Road in Suzhou

Abstract

The advent of globalization and digital media compels us to reexamine the blurring and fluidity of the boundaries between public and private spaces. The construction of urban spaces for consumption is, arguably, compressing city’s public spaces. But various space-use activities, some of which are aided by digital media, may have the potentials in cultivating the public capacity of such consumption spaces. Through this lens, this article takes the historic street of Pingjiang Road in Suzhou, China, as a case to explore how in the age of digital media and globalization, such urban spaces revived for historic and cultural consumption may exhibit potential capacity for publicity or the publicness of an urban space. Through this case study, this article aims to show the tensions as well as potentials for publicity arising from the boundary fluidity in similar urban spaces.