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Economy of Fascination: Thematic Production of Post-modern
Economy of Fascination at Thematic Production of Post-modern Urban Landscapes"
International symposium
November 8 to 10, 2007
Heidelberg
More information at Planum:
http://www.geog.uni-heidelberg.de/fascination/pdf/flyer.pdf
International symposium
November 8 to 10, 2007
Heidelberg
During the last decades and in the course of economic and cultural globalisation most metropolises have undergone far-reaching transformations towards an increasing commercialisation, theming, and focus on entertainment. One of the consequences of urban governance is that competences and responsibilities have been transferred to private and semi-state actors, while other consequences are that supermarkets have been turned into urban entertainment centres, pedestrian zones into festival marketplaces, and traditional housing areas have been converted to gated communities.
Festivalisation, theming, and hyper reality are the catchwords of a fast-paced development which is increasingly reducing everyday ârealityâ and replacing it with a âculture of simulationâ. As early as 1992 SORKIN announced the end of public space and the transition from reality to virtuality. Experience and reality are being virtualised, produced, and simulated but also manipulated, monitored, and controlled. Meanwhile, one can speak even of an âEconomy of Fascinationâ to describe the attention drawing tendencies of theming and entertainment that have found their way into everyday life and that are more and more the determining factors of
urban landscapes.
Economy of Fascination is consequently the title of an international symposium at the Internationales Wissenschaftsforum in Heidelberg from November 8 to 11, 2007 that will focus on the increasing commercialisation, theming, and entertainment character of urban landscapes. Several international academics like Michael Sorkin, Mark Gottdiener, John Urry, Scott Lash, Neil Smith, and Michael Dear will give keynote lectures, but the main goal of the symposiums is to bring together senior academics and young scholars of different disciplines to intensively discuss topics of postmodern urbanism.
More information at Planum:
http://www.geog.uni-heidelberg.de/fascination/pdf/flyer.pdf
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