Abstract
In the past decade, significant transformations have influenced the governance of urban public spaces. There has also been a growth in new public spheres associated with digital media networks, informing and influencing the production and regulation of urban space. In this article, we explore the role of digital and social media as a form of connective action supporting public campaigns about the privatisation and erosion of public space in the Scottish city of Edinburgh. We draw on analysis of Twitter data, interviews and observations of offline events to illustrate how a broad coalition of actors utilise online and offline tactics to contest the takeover of public space, confirming that that the virtual and the physical are not parallel realms but continuously intersecting social realities. Finally, we reflect on the extent to which digital media-enabled connective action can influence the orientation of urban controversies debates and lead to material change in the way urban public space is managed and regulated.
Highlights
In January 2020, a public meeting was organised at Edinburgh Central Hall titled City for Sale? The Commodification of Edinburgh’s Public Spaces
The event focused on public space and its value, the role of festivals and events in the city, and the opportunity available to residents to influence decision-making in the way their public spaces are used
Drawing on the urban controversies created over the use of the city’s principal public spaces for festival and event-related activities, we address the following research question: How do online and offline politics operate in relation to discussions about the value of hosting festivals and events in urban civic public space, and with what effects?
Summary
In January 2020, a public meeting was organised at Edinburgh Central Hall titled City for Sale? The Commodification of Edinburgh’s Public Spaces. We explore the extent to which digital and social media platforms enable the expression of public concerns over the management, use and design of public space in the context of the growing festivalisation of cities (Richards & Palmer, 2010). It connects two areas of debate: The reconfiguration of the relationship between physical and virtual spaces, and the changing modes of production of urban public space, torn between new attempts to open them to diverse types of citizens and their promotion as assets in a neoliberal context. We detail our single case study, before presenting empirical evidence on the extent to which offline and online politics were successful in initiating change in the governance of urban public space in Edinburgh
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