the production of an african hybrid city @aag
TRANSCRIPT
THE PRODUCTION OF AN AFRICAN HYBRID CITYMarta Pucciarelli, Sara Vannini & Lorenzo CantoniUniversità della Svizzera italiana
AAG Annual Meeting - San Francisco - 1 April 2016
PURPOSE OF THE RESEARCH
THE DIGITAL BIRTH OF AN AFRICAN CITY
1. To explore the processes through which the digital city is produced (whose voices, which origin, spatial and temporal evolution)
2. To explore the (mis)alignment between digital and physical representation (activities, territory and sense)
3. To highlight if and how the digital city influencing the physical space
DOUALA
DOUALA
GOAL OF THIS PRESENTATION
• to explore the mis(alignement) between the digital and the physical city’s landmarks and points of interests
• to evaluate the influence of digital city over the physical one
4529 socio-economic activites513 online presence = 11,37%
DIGITAL
LOCAL
PHYSICAL
45 interviews
216 landmarks elicitation
149 accomodations 1090 reviews
9 things to do63 reviews
130 questionnaires
274 landmarks reported
DATA COLLECTIONFOREIGNERS
ONLINE URBAN LANDMARKS
118 neighbourhoods
36 present online activities2 neighbourhoods represent 50.3% of the whole online presence of the city
OFFLINE URBAN LANDMARKS• 118
neighbourhoods
• 31 have been quoted as local landmarks
OFFLINE URBAN LANDMARKS• Higher
representation of popular neighborhoods
• Limited mobility of locals throughout the city
• Nodes for of the city
• Variety of activities and practices related to the landmarks
SIMILARITIES
Commercial areasIndustrial areas
DIFFERENCES
new residential areasinternational areas
ONLINE TOURISTIC LANDMARKS
• 118 neighbourhoods
• 25 present touristic landmarks (hotel/things to do)
• 13 neighborhoods have actually received reviews
• 2 neighbourhoods show 73.4% of the whole foreigners activities
OFFLINE TOURISTIC LANDMARKS
118 neighbourhoods
19 have been visited and considered as landmarks thought the city
TOURSITIC LANDMARKS (ONLINE VS OFFLINE)
DIGITAL
FOREIGNERSLOCALSPHYSICAL
HOW THE DIGITAL IS INFLUENCING THE PHYSICAL?
• The African hybrid city seems at its early stage of existence. Its digital presence is nowadays mainly addressed to (and influencing) an international public that travels to or lives in Douala, rather than locals, who might (not) access online information.
• the hybrid city seems to be co-created mostly for and by the interactions that foreigners have with the digital city.
• future research could analyze this phenomena longitudinally (in time) , to see how it develops
