Cultural participation in networked public spaces

Cultural participation has traditionally been measured through attendance at cultural venues such as museums, art galleries or theatre. However the emergence of new urban art events (like White Night Melbourne) and the interweaving of new technologies in urban space (public Wi‐Fi, social media and large video screens) are creating conditions for very different kinds of public engagement with culture.

This research project aims to understand how new forms of cultural experience and participation are being mediated and shared by in urban public spaces such as Federation Square in Melbourne, Harmony Square in Dandenong, and Yagan Square in Perth.

By collecting and analysing exisiting data from social media and the City of Melbourne’s automated pedestrian counting system researchers are developing a picture of the public’s temporal and spatial engagement with the cultural life of urban spaces.