Restricted Spatiality and the Inflation of Digital Space, an Urban Perspective

Abstract

This article aims to explore whether or not digital space assumes the role of the spatial urban grid when movement of people is restricted under quarantine. The era of Web 2.0 and the increasingly easy access to mobile devices and the internet has created alternative virtual space for urban socio-spatial interactions. The article addresses these concepts in three parts. First, it adapts a theoretical framework that can address the emerging digital public and spatial restrictions. Second, it explores the possible inflation of digital space. Third, it questions the possibility of transfer of spatiality into virtual space. The finding shows significant inflation of digital space after quarantine, but no significant spatial characteristic can be identified among those interactions. The study emphasizes the importance of adapting existing theories for evolving urban challenges.

Oriental Marco Polo Plaza Encounter: Choreographing Place and Placelessness from a Phenomenological Perspective

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“…Furthermore, it seems that there is a limit to how far these distances can stretch across an urban area. It should be noted that, in general, although the number of interactions via Twitter have increased during the quarantine, the geotagged tweets that represent a spatial connection with urban spaces have decreased (Iranmanesh and Alpar Atun 2020b). Future studies are needed to explore a longer timeframe to produce a clearer answer regarding the longer-lasting effectsif anyof the COVID-19 pandemic.…”

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“…In these cases, the dataset shows that the number of geotagged tweets declined each semester as the outdoor activities became limited and less interactive ( Huang et al, 2020 ; Iranmanesh & Alpar Atun, 2021 ). This decline appears only in the number of geotagged tweets that are linked with outdoor urban spaces and it does not account for all tweets ( Iranmanesh & Alpar Atun, 2020c ).

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