Geographies on the screen: the image of the city as a mass-media construction

Abstract

The perceived image of the city in the collective imagination has been influenced, over the last century, by the images projected onto us through mass audiovisual media. These media have played a crucial role in shaping the city’s meanings and our interaction with its spaces, fostering a new perspective that encompasses a multiplicity of viewpoints. In the span of less than 100 years, from Kuleshov’s pioneering juxtapositions in the editing room to the advent of Instagram, the mental construction of the city and our relationship with it have continuously evolved. This research explores the impacts of different mediums on our perception of urban space through three pivotal moments: film montage and the space of juxtaposition, cable television and the zapping city, and social networks and infinite scrolling, we examine the impact of media on our understanding of urban context.