ABSTRACT

The media in all its guises makes it possible to know and experience aspects of a city without ever physically going there. Such experiences can be immersive, for instance via virtual and augmented reality, or a reader can be transported through the evocative words of a novel. As well as being the subject of media framing, cities are also the sites in which media in all its forms are made, displayed and consumed. International bodies, such as the European Union, have increasingly become enmeshed in local attempts to use the cultural and creative industries to rebrand and market cities. Such bodies have pursued a range of policies that directly focus on the city, with Capital of Culture schemes standing out as emblematic. People identify individually and collectively with where they live, with a particular house, in a particular street, in a particular neighborhood, town, city or region.