CHINESE URBAN SCREENS EVOLUTION：A HISTORICAL ANALYSIS OF CHINESE URBAN SCREENS AND COMPARATIVE STUDY OF SCREEN CLUSTERS IN SHANGHAI AND CHONGQING

Ran, Wuwu ORCID: 0009-0001-0238-5149 (2025) CHINESE URBAN SCREENS EVOLUTION：A HISTORICAL ANALYSIS OF CHINESE URBAN SCREENS AND COMPARATIVE STUDY OF SCREEN CLUSTERS IN SHANGHAI AND CHONGQING. PhD thesis, University of Liverpool.

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Abstract

As screen technologies proliferate across Chinese urban contexts, studies have traditionally focused on individual examples and qualitative analyses, overlooking both the everyday ubiquity of public screens and the specific conditions that shape China's distinctive screen cultures. Addressing these gaps, this thesis historicises urban screens as products emerging from unique configurations of state planning, market dynamics, and cultural practices and examines their evolution and transformational role in contemporary Chinese public spaces. Through a multi-scalar investigation spanning national surveys to city-level analysis, the research reveals how urban screens have evolved from propaganda tools to complex socio-technical systems that both reflect and produce China's compressed modernisation. To address methodological limitations in the field, this thesis moves beyond predominant qualitative approaches by introducing quantitative frameworks necessary for understanding spatial relationships and systematic patterns. The study employs a tripartite methodological approach: firstly, it traces the historical genealogy of urban screens from pre-digital communication forms to contemporary urban screens, highlighting patterns of disruption and continuity aligned with China's broader reform trajectory. Second, it develops a machine learning-assisted taxonomy that analyses 104 urban screen clusters across Shanghai and Chongqing, resulting in eight distinct typological categories based on combined physical-digital features. Thirdly, it introduces the Augmented Public Space Index (APSI), an evaluative tool assessing public spaces enhanced by screens along five dimensions—accessibility, vitality, integration, responsiveness, and creativity. Empirical findings reveal that Chinese urban screens function according to distinct logics diverging from Western paradigms. The shift from singular screens to clustered deployments has created what this thesis terms 'augmented public spaces,' which are characterised by preferences for monumentality, collective viewing practices, and the integration of state narratives within commercial operations. While purpose-built media architectures and pedestrian-focused clusters demonstrate higher levels of integration and creativity, the universal challenge of achieving genuine public responsiveness reveals that technical capabilities alone cannot produce meaningful public space without corresponding social and political transformations. These findings offer alternative models for understanding how digital media might inhabit urban space, pointing toward futures where screens might genuinely augment rather than merely occupy the public realm. The research contributes to knowledge by establishing a comprehensive analytical framework for urban screens as city interfaces, developing systematic classification methodology, creating practical evaluation tools, and providing robust empirical documentation of China's distinctive urban screen landscape. Future research directions include geographic expansion of the APSI framework and development of immersive methodologies to capture embodied experiences of screen-mediated urban environments.

Item Type:	Thesis (PhD)
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Urban Screen, Augmented Public Spaces, Screen-based Building Cluster, AI-driven Spatial Taxonomy
Divisions:	Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences > School of the Arts
Depositing User:	Symplectic Admin
Date Deposited:	14 Aug 2025 08:40
Last Modified:	14 Aug 2025 12:21
DOI:	10.17638/03193519
Supervisors:	Koeck, Richard Francesca, Piazzoni
URI:	https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/id/eprint/3193519