ABSTRACT
Concluding the research presented in the book, this chapter identifies overarching themes in the patterns of issue spaces across cities, issues, and analytical perspectives. Issue spaces are characterized by strong differences in the level and form of attention places receive. The dominant expression of these differences is a slope between urban center and periphery. Issue spaces are also locally clustered. They include instances of hyperlocal visibility, with individual streets or addresses receiving outsized public attention. The patterns of issue spaces on social media are predicted by the distribution of communicative resources and infrastructures across the urban space, especially the density of local civic organizing. These conclusions are discussed in light of a functional understanding of public spheres, in terms of emergence and issue publics in digital media, as well as speaking to the literature on digital counterpublics and local communication environments. The chapter concludes by outlining a further research agenda around the spatiality of public discourses.
