Communicating the City

As part of the Leeds Humanities Research Institute's Moveable Feast series, a roving series of lunchtime talks, Giorgia Aiello (Media & Communication) will speak about 'Communicating the City'.

Abstract: In the face of economic and cultural globalization, many have argued that we live in an increasingly placeless world. However, as a growing number of cities compete for global attention, the spectacle of the city is more than ever a significant medium of communication in its own right. This talk focuses on how the urban built environment is visually represented and materially fashioned to communicate the city as ‘world-class’. With examples from Leeds, Seattle (USA), Bologna (Italy), and a number of second-tier cities competing for the title of European Capital of Culture, I discuss some of the ways in which these aesthetic agendas applied to urban form may ultimately exclude less profitable yet vital versions and visions of urban life.