Communicative Cities

Communicative Cities Research Network

The Communicative Cities Research Network (CCRN) is a partnership between the RUPC, Center for information and Communication Studies (CICS)  at Fudan University, Shanghai, the Urban Communication Foundation (United States) and the Department of Communications and New Media at NUS, Singapore.

The CCRN brings together scholars from around the world to foster critical research into the city as a distinctive site for communication. Networked digital media are reshaping many aspects of contemporary cities including forms of social encounter, artistic expression, urban memory and public assembly. Our research investigates the interplay of urban media with social and cultural practices, ranging from urban screens and media facades to personal mobile devices and ‘smart city’ agendas. Underpinning individual projects are fundamental questions concerning the relation between public space and public sphere as urban life is reworked by new mobilities and pervasive access to data.

The CCRN has held annual symposia in Melbourne (2016), Shanghai (2017), Melbourne (2018), Chicago (2019) and Singapore (2020). An edited collection Communicative Cities and Urban Space will be published by Routledge in 2021, while Art and the Communicative City is in preparation for Peter Lang in 2022.

CCRN steering committee: Prof Scott McQuire; Prof Gary Gumpert (UCF); Prof Sue Drucker (Hofstra); Prof Huang Dan (Fudan); Prof Sun Wei (Fudan); Prof Audrey Yue (NUS). The CCRN also works in partnership with the Urban Communication Foundation.

The Future Cemetery

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Investigators

Bjorn Nansen, Michael Arnold, Martin Gibbs, Tamara Kohn, Elizabeth Hallam.

Funded Projects

ARC Linkage Project

About

This project aims to identify and critically assess the potential of new and emerging cemetery technologies to enhance visitor experience, diversify service offerings, and strengthen community connections. The project will generate knowledge about the industry's and the public's future-oriented desires through an interdisciplinary, collaborative, and evidence-based assessment of emerging cemetery-based technologies including mobile apps, GPS systems, drones, holography, and virtual reality. Our team will devise, apply, and assess evidence-based solutions to the challenges and ambitions of the future cemetery, to consider what technologies might be incorporated into Australian cemeteries and memorial spaces, and evaluate the implications of such developments.

This Linkage project will build on previous research projects around death and commemoration to increase the cumulative social impact of our work by moving from pure research to research and development. We will do this by engaging in a partnership with the Greater Metropolitan Cemeteries Trust (GMCT), one of two Class A cemetery trusts in metropolitan Melbourne, to critically assess and inform the design and practical application of new and emerging technologies as they are adopted and adapted to improve the experience, service, and relevance of the future cemetery.

Period

2019-2021

Art Precincts and Cultural Participation in Networked Public Space

Flinders Street Station in Melbourne during the White Night Festival 2014
Flinders Street Station in Melbourne during the White Night Festival 2014

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Investigators

Nikos Paspastergiadis, Audrey Yue, Scott McQuire, Paul Carter, Lily Kong, Ute Bauer, Janine Marchessault.

About

This project examines the impact of visitor experiences on the programming and design of the public zones of arts precincts. In the past decade arts precincts have grown in number and scale around the world. However, in a context of multicultural societies and networked visitors, there is still little knowledge of the fit between public expectations, aesthetic innovation and urban design. Even less attention is given to the flows and encounters that occur in open spaces. We will develop an evaluative and comparative framework that will deepen awareness of inclusive modes of public participation and vitalise connectivity between arts institutions in precincts.

Period

2017-2020