In Placing Words, Mitchell says that cities“depend on its power to provide virtual as well as physical setting for interchanges among its inhabitants.” The disruption of the coronavirus on urban centers has changed the nature of work, education, and leisure in the city, so much so that many people are leaving for good.
Do we still need cities? How might shared space and communication permanently transform from the pandemic? What will be the role of the communication designer in this transformation? Write a response to these questions below.
This reading reminded me about another reading called“The Medium is the Message”. Now, with the virus, it is like other major shifts. The job of the communication designer will be to understand how to get their message across to the intended audience in a limited medium. It is less about creating additional meaning with different mediums but rather to explore the virtual space more deeply. I think there will be more tools to help us in the future when it comes to technology and creating connection. As Mitchell mentions in Placing Words, digital networking has allowed for the“injection of useful information in contexts that were previously inaccessible. However, I believe that cities will never truly go away. Until everyone has the same level of accessibility, even with the virus, the virtual space will not be the only medium that is used.
Something to consider:
If cities are here to stay, what will we need to do to give everyone access? How will communication design need to bridge some of the limitations of virtual mediums?
