Urban Connective Action: The Case of Events Hosted in Public Space

In the past decade, significant transformations have influenced the governance of urban public spaces. There has also been a growth in new public spheres associated with digital media networks, informing and influencing the production and regulation of urban space. In this article, we explore the role of digital and social media as a form of connective action supporting public campaigns about the privatisation and erosion of public space in the Scottish city of Edinburgh. We draw on analysis of Twitter data, interviews and observations of offline events to illustrate how a broad coalition of actors utilise online and offline tactics to contest the takeover of public space, confirming that that the virtual and the physical are not parallel realms but continuously intersecting social realities. Finally, we reflect on the extent to which digital media-enabled connective action can influence the orientation of urban controversies debates and lead to material change in the way urban public space is managed and regulated.

influence the way urban public space is managed and regulated.

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In the past few decades, urban researchers have highlighted how the management and design of urban public 49 space has become influenced by many, often contradictory, demands. These range from exposure to a 50 neoliberal agenda that encourages the local state to commercialise its public and common good assets for 51 economic return (Smith, 2016), to increased calls for the inclusion of local communities in the design of their 52 urban environments (Aelbrecht, 2019). In the last two decades, the emergence of so-called new public spheres 53 (Papacharissi, 2002), associated with digital media networks, has introduced another layer to the urban 54 debate. By creating a new 'skin' for cities (Rabari & Storper, 2015), the digital sphere is informing and 55 influencing the production and regulation of urban space, especially when it comes to the mobilisation of 56 citizens in the form of campaigns and protests (Arora, 2015;Molnar, 2014;Schäfer, 2015).

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In this article, we explore the extent to which digital and social media platforms enable the expression of public 58 concerns over the management, use and design of public space in the context of the growing festivalisation 59 3 of cities (Richards & Palmer, 2010). It connects two areas of debate: the reconfiguration of the relationship 60 between physical and virtual spaces; and, the changing modes of production of urban public space, torn 61 between new attempts to open them to diverse types of citizens and their promotion as assets in a neoliberal 62 context. Empirically, we focus on the Scottish city of Edinburgh, which has long been considered an 63 international festival city (Jamieson, 2014). Drawing on the urban controversies created over the use of the 64 city's principal public spaces for festival and event-related activities, we address the following research   identify the significance of digitally enabled action networks that allow for broader public engagement outside 92 of more established party or movement concerns. They emphasise the importance of more personalised ideas 93 and mechanisms, rather than social group identity, membership or ideology, utilising a wide range of social 94 technologies to spread the word. Pond and Lewis (2019) build on this work, suggesting that connective action 95 is a way to describe collective action "empowered by the 'logics' of social media" (p. 215) representing an 96 "attempt to rethink the established logic of collective action for an age of hyper-mediated, personalised, 97 political expression" (p. 213). It is argued that the architecture and codes embedded in social platforms enable 98 collectivities to form at low cost and with (relatively) low risk for participants, which encourages the formation 99 of these action networks. Pond and Lewis (2019) use the example of Twitter to highlight how its tools and 100 practices, like retweeting and favouriting, encourage people to find those with similar political and personal 101 interests, which form the basis of collective action.

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Collective action logic has often failed because too few people agree on the public good that can be secured 103 from working on a common cause, or do not make the contributions required to secure traction politically.

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Proponents argue that connective action frames can avoid this outcome because they are more accessible 105 and individualised, eliminating barriers to entry and reducing costs, for both individuals and organisations.   connections take place (Poell, Rajagopalan & Kavada, 2018). Haggerty and Ericson (2000) express concern at 122 the surveillant assemblage that social media platforms contribute towards as private corporations generate 123 digital profiles of users that help predict future behaviours and tastes (Zuboff, 2019 (Gillespie, 2010, p. 359). Finally, critics also suggest that the possibility of a digital public sphere is 127 compromised on social platforms by the often emotional, confrontational and agnostic nature of online 128 conversations, working against rational debate online (Schafer, 2015).

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However, while there are clearly many limitations to digital media platforms as a route to an idealized public 130 sphere, there is a recognition that marginalized actors and silenced opinions can be made visible in the online 131 space. While the material effects of Twitter campaigns may be unpredictable, ephemeral and never 132 guaranteed they can also capture the attention of political leaders and produce greater democratic 133 accountability. How effective this process can be is the focus of this study.

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The uses and management of public spaces: privatization, digitalisation and festivalisation

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The idea that public spaces are collectively owned and shared environments, where diverse publics can gather 136 and express themselves has been subject to considerable critique in recent years. Urban literatures suggest 137 that experiences of public space vary from one category of individuals to the other, along dimensions including 138 class (Mitchell, 2003), gender (Hubbard, 2001), race (Low, Taplin, & Scheld, 2009) and age (Valentine, 1996).  1980s and adopted afterwards in other contexts (Low & Smith, 2006). Securitization affects public space as 144 open spaces are closed off from the general public, with an increased use of militarized (and more and more 145 technological) devices aiming to create an impression of control. This has been reinforced by a process of 146 privatization: instead of being owned by public institutions, public spaces have been reconstituted over the 147 past two decades as private or quasi-private environments, managed in the context of public-private 148 partnerships, and operating according to commercial logic. Each of these threats has contributed towards 149 processes of commodification. In a context of fiscal tightening, the local state has been (re)imagined as an 150 entrepreneurial entity, and public spaces have been reconstituted as assets that need to be exploited for 151 economic return. Drawing on the case of public parks, Arora (2015) suggests that they now frequently 152 represent and reflect "corporatized, commercialized, and semiprivatized space" (p.63), generating growing 153 concern amongst those people living near, using and caring for these spaces.

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Accompanying these three threats is the emergence of digitalisation. Early analyses suggested that 155 digitalisation would accelerate the decline of public spaces. It was argued that the growing prevalence of 156 6 online exchanges would turn public spaces into a succession of insular private bubbles not related to physical 157 proximity (Frith, 2012). However, another body of work highlights how technologies can also help to revive 158 public spaces as an arena of meaningful debate. Far from evolving as separate entities, in the merging of digital 159 and physical spaces the former becomes a place where local matters are debated (Papacharissi, 2002), while 160 the latter turns into a 'hybrid space' influenced both by offline and online dynamics (de Souza e Silva, 2006).

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The issue of festivals and events represents an appropriate context to explore the new relations between 172 public space, privatization and digitalisation. Indeed, while squares, parks and streetscapes have historically 180 normally open to all or extending commercial logic by forcing attendees to pay for using them (Smith, 2018).

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Lately, the emergence of digital platforms has also led these criticisms to be expressed online: while digital 182 platforms have been used by many festival and event organisers and sponsors to promote activities happening 183 in public space, it has also often become a way through which a wider public can "enable the inversion of the

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In the remainder of this article, we explore how these criticisms have formalised offline and online in a city 187 defined since 1949 by its internationally recognised festivals. While festivals and events have become 188 significant cultural, social and economic assets to Edinburgh, and to Scotland's place in the world, the city's 7 dependency towards them has produced in the last few years a set of urban controversies. Played out in both 190 offline and online spaces, these debates emphasized the (over) use of public space as a central topic.

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It is important to acknowledge that Twitter is, at best, a semi-public space, given its ownership status and 207 selective user profiles. Founded in 2006, Twitter is a microblogging platform developed in San Francisco. Now 208 a globally-recognised platform with 330 million active users (Clement, 2020), its $30Bn profit is generated 209 through advertisements and selling data to partners through APIs or crawlers. The majority of Twitter users 210 are aged between 18 and 49 (Clement, 2020). While there is much debate on the issue, Kozinets (2020) 211 suggests that Twitter data can be considered as public information posted on a public site, unless the tweet 212 has been posted by a user with a private account.

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Drawing on these considerations, we utilised a mixed methodological approach to explore online (via Twitter) Publicly accessible Tweets were gathered and organised using the commercial social media monitoring tool,

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Brandwatch. Initial search terms included 'Edinburgh Summer Sessions', 'Edinburgh Christmas Markets', and 225 'Edinburgh Hogmanay', though towards the end of our data collection period the hashtag #CityforSale became 226 significant and was included in our data set. We triangulated the Twitter data with mainstream news articles 227 to better understand the actions or events that had triggered conversations online. Kozinets (2020) suggests 228 the importance of seeking "lead users or lead situations", explaining that these are "users, whose present 229 strong needs will become general" (p.289). We checked the Twitter data for the inclusion of lead users -key 230 social media influencers based on the frequency of their contributions, number of followers and impact of 231 their tweets in terms of being shared with others. Finally, we also collected relevant local and national 232 newspaper articles as these were often shared on Twitter to trigger reactions and start a conversation.

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All tweets gathered around the search terms discussed (English language only, geolocation set to Scotland

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To enhance the quality of data produced, Kozinets (2020) suggests that netnographic studies can be

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Street Gardens as we know them forever", the Chair of The Cockburn Association Chair is quoted as saying 287 that, "Princes Street Gardens should be just that -gardens. We worry that the provision of a major 'world-288 leading' venue for gigs will see a creep to staging more large events".

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The Cockburn Association had been actively campaigning against the over-commercialisation of Edinburgh's 290 civic heritage for years but their visibility increased with this foray into the media, accompanied by a growing

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Ellis suggested that "The Gardens are for everyone to enjoy, including music fans. To deny such joys is both 295 selfish and elitist". However, despite this intervention, the issue of public space being compromised, or 296 eroded, continued to gain traction, especially on Twitter. These concerns included that public parks could be 297 closed to the public (including pavements), and the use of public space to host commercial events, as noted 298 in these anonymised tweets:

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The author of the thread also included a response from the promoters: 372 RESPONSE FROM UNDERBELLY: "Access to homes is maintained at all times with no cost to businesses or 373 residents, but security is ensured by the pass system". So, we should be grateful that residents don't have  Twitter from McVey, where he acknowledged the existence of "strong feelings" and the fact that "we have to 412 listen to all residents and respond to meet the challenge", mentioning that the controversy is part of "a wider 413 debate about how we manage size & scale of festivals and tourism". He also confirmed that a citywide conversation was about to be launched "to help shape future events" and that "we'll publish details shortly 415 of how we'll engage with City to look afresh & decide collectively what's best for our City, our residents & our 416 economy" (@adamrmcvey, 3 January, 2020).

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While the intervention by the CEC sought to quieten concerned citizens, it did little to shift the public mood in

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In the three controversies described here, there was certainly evidence of Twitter users using colourful 443 language, direct attacks on local government officials and selective visual imagery to illustrate entrenched 444 18 perspectives. However, it was also clear that Twitter represented a space where networks were established 445 or strengthened, events and activities were structured and discontent was communicated, personally and 446 institutionally. That is how connective action frames operate (Bennett & Segerberg, 2012). They are rarely 447 unidirectional, involving one leader with a singular vision or objective. Instead, these frames are complex, 448 unpredictable, and nuanced, producing temporary coalitions and affiliations that can hold opponents to 449 account.

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It was also evident that the urban controversies played out on Twitter and other platforms were partly a 451 response to perceived democratic deficits in the decision-making processes for public space management in