[ecrea] cfp: Mediated Urbanism

*CALL FOR PAPERS*

A Double Special Issue of *International Communication Gazette *to be 
published by Sage Publishers on*

Mediated Urbanism*
With sections on /Designing the Urban Stages & Urban Audience Activities/

Guest Editors:
Seija Ridell (University of Tampere, Finland; COST Action ISO906 WG3)
Frauke Zeller (Wilfrid Laurier University, Canada; COST Action ISO906 WG3)

*Extended deadline for abstracts:*  June 18th 2012

*Designing the Urban Stages section*(*CfP 1*) focuses on the planning
and design aspects of contemporary digitally embedded and media-saturated cities.

*Urban Audience Activities section (CfP 2)*  focuses on the diversity
of audience activities in the multi-spaced and multiply scaled contemporary cities.

*For the whole CFP go to*_http://www.uta.fi/cmt/cost/cfp_mediated_urbanism2012.html_


The multiple and multiply divided nature of urban reality has deepened
in novel ways through the development of networked digital technologies. The use of
portable media devices in particular has rendered urban space increasingly
multi-layered, as people may interact with their physically absent communities
and visit online places while being on the move in the city. At the same time,
through their smart gadgets, people are integrated with the software-supported
urban infrastructure which grows out from an equally invisible but nevertheless
material global technorhizome. This makes them active though not necessarily
self-reflexive contributors to the dynamics of spatial power that today conditions
the forms of urban communication and agency.

The contemporary urban setting has started in recent years to increasingly fascinate
scholars and practitioners as a context for people¡¦s media relations. However, there
is, as yet, little research on how the complex processes of city planning and design
shape the digitalized and media saturatedcity and how these processes articulate and
are entangled with power relations. Nor is there much research on the ways people shift
between various media and technology related modes of action while dwelling in and
moving about the city.

In this double special issue Mediated urbanism of the International Communication Gazette,
which follows up on the 2008 ICG special issue on Communicative Cities (edited by Gary
Gumpert and Susan Drucker), we wish to address the digitally sustained urban environment
in terms of public life. Our approach in the issue is to combine the perspectives of city
planning and design, on the one hand, with the perspective of people¡¦s activities as
urban audiences, on the other. We welcome and strongly encourage for both interrelated
sections contributions that foster dialogues across disciplinary boundaries.

Important Dates:
- Abstracts (600-800 words and to include author's professional status
and institutional affiliation) to be submitted by June 18th 2012
- Notifications of acceptance: June 30th 2012
- Full manuscript submission: September 15th 2012

Submissions (abstracts and full manuscripts), in English, should be sent
electronically as Word documents to Seija Ridell (email:(seija.ridell /at/ uta.fi)) and
Frauke Zeller (email:(fzeller /at/ wlu.ca)).

Manuscripts should include an abstract of 100-150 words, with a suggested target of
8000 words(including notes and references) and include 8-10 key words. For specific
manuscript submission guidelines, please go to:http://gaz.sagepub.com/

If you have any queries regarding the suitability of your potential
contribution or any other inquiries, please contact the guest editors:
Seija Ridell,(seija.ridell /at/ uta.fi)
Frauke Zeller,(fzeller /at/ wlu.ca)