Digital Placemaking Symposium - MAB Beijing 2018

This 4th Digital Publics Symposium is to be presented by UTV as part of the Media Architecture Biennale 2018 (www.mab18.org) hosted by CAFA, Beijing. Digital Publics was a one-day symposium focused on Digital Placemaking – the impact and potential of Urban Screens and media tools as the engine for community building and placemaking in the digital age.

Public space and how people use it changes as urban patterns evolve, this Digital Publics symposium has two key sessions;• The Urban Screen – a platform of engagement• Digital Placemaking – shaping public landscapes.

Through a curated panel of practitioners, producers and academics, the role of the Cultural Urban Screen in current and emergent public spaces will be discussed and exampled. With a focus on how community can be developed through screens as a platform for engagement, our panel will present case studies and openly discuss the journey of challenges and possibilities that the Urban Screen Platform represents.

Our second session will frame the Urban Screen within the broader context of Digital Placemaking; the use of technology to mediate culture and place, and as a mechanism to enhance public space usage. This panel discussion coalesces around the digital placemaking approach that is interested in layers of connection, engagement and cultural experience that are introduced by media technologies. This second panel will unpack the policy framework, technical landscape, ethical considerations, and indeed articulate how success is being measured and understood within this emergent field.

This symposium brought timely voices together from across creative practices, institutions and research projects that make new spaces for curious publics. Digital Publics is produced by UTV, presented in partnership MAB and CAFA and curated by Lubi Thomas.