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John Bingham-Hall

The Bartlett Space Syntax Laboratory

The Blog and the Territory: A geography of place and hyperlocal media in three London neighborhoods

Funded by an EPSRC Studentship. This research looks into the cultural formation of cities and society, and addresses the critical contemporary debates around the internet, modern communication patterns and socio-urban form. The work asks: how is the geographical coverage of each hyperlocal channel derived from the physical and administrative boundaries present in the urban fabric? How, in turn, might the distribution of locally-specific information though a hyperlocal channel influence the way neihghbourhood boundaries are perceived and come to have a part in shaping the geography of urban places? What are the implications - when people living close by come to connect through mediated communications - for place-based social networks and individual access to localized social capital? As an outcome he aims to contribute both theoretically to the "smart cities" and society and technology studies debates, and also offer a resource for the growing practice of using the internet as part of community-building and placemaking.