Urban screens in China link history technology and control uniquely

The Evolution and 'Chineseness' of Urban Screens in China: From Propaganda Posters to Smart City Interfaces

Human-Computer Interaction

Summary

Urban screens are big digital displays found in cities worldwide, but the way they developed in China is special. The authors explain that this uniqueness, called 'Chineseness,' comes from China’s history with public communication, government-driven technology advances, and strict but large-scale regulations. Their research tracks how urban screens evolved from propaganda posters to smart interfaces showing many technologies coexisting and focusing more on shared public viewing than personal interactivity. This study offers new ways to think about media screens in cities beyond Western examples.

What this means in practice

  • For urban planners: Design urban digital displays that consider China-specific history and regulation for effective public communication in smart cities.
  • For media architects: Develop city media installations emphasizing collective public experiences over individual interactivity by leveraging temporal-spatial compression concepts.

A position paper. It proposes an approach and reports no results.

Authors

Wuwu Ran

Abstract

Urban screens have become a global feature of the media city, yet their developmental paths are not universal. This paper argues that the evolution of urban screens in China constitutes a distinct paradigm of media urbanism, termed Chineseness, understood here not as cultural essence but as a relational, historically situated configuration of three linked elements: deep-rooted lineages of public communication; state-steered technological leapfrogging driven by industrial policy and mega-events; and a regulatory paradox that enables spectacular scale while tightening operational control. Drawing on a five-stage genealogy (1990-present), a chronology of representative screens, and five paradigmatic cases, the study shows how this configuration produces temporal-spatial compression, the coexistence of multiple technological generations, and privileges collective witnessing over device-centric interactivity. The paper contributes a documented genealogy of Chinese urban screens, develops temporal-spatial compression and collective witnessing as analytical tools for non-Western media ecologies, and positions Chineseness as a globally relevant alternative to market-led models of media architecture.
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