As BEYOND heads to MediaCity in Greater Manchester, Professor Andy Miah asks what made a ‘media city’ such a compelling idea.
The concept of the “Media City” has enjoyed a varied history, born out of a set of specialised intellectual discourses that are found across a range of traditions. From studies of urban and architectural change to the expansion of our digital society through the global village of mass media, the media city became an aspirational idea for cities to drive their destinies as magnets for the media industries. Such cities as Dubai, Los Angeles, Berlin, Seoul Mumbai, and Toronto have all skirted around this redefinition, albeit in quite different ways.
Yet, the naming of places as “media cities” is a more recent phenomena, aligned with the rise of the media industries specifically and the desire to secure investments into what was a new way of thinking about the creative capabilities of places. Its use emerged at a similar time to the rise of creative and cultural industries as units of major economic interest, which themselves have become core conduits of productivity and growth within politics.
In this respect, the media city tells the story of how creativity became central to national productivity and, with the latest investments into the creative industries announced in the UK October budget, the importance of this is further emphasised.
Salford’s MediaCity is deeply wedded to these trajectories, born out of a new configuration of media interests in the UK, notably the BBC’s decision to move part of the corporation to Salford, including its R&D unit. Over 20 years, it has nurtured a community of SMEs working towards innovative creative practices and yet, the idea of what it means to be a media city remains in flux.
With MediaCity Salford embarking into a £1 billion expansion, what makes a media city today is a very different set of ideas to what it meant 20 years ago, as the media industries have also been changed dramatically over this period. Inextricable from the new equation of what fits into the definition of a media city is the rise of big tech. From Google’s Art & Culture Initiative to the advanced editing features of social media platforms like TikTok, the relationship between content and platform has become all the more focused on what can be achieved by the technology and the traditional media sector finds itself increasingly subject to the capabilities – and economic power – of these new platforms. Look even deeper and we see transformation taking place within the DNA of the creative process, much of which is focused on the power of bandwidth, edge computing, and real-time technology.
Today’s media culture has become synonymous with social media and the pursuit of user generated content which underpins this ecosystem. The expansion of professionally generated media into new forms of creative practice through user generated content has brought with it new audience experiences and expectations, which have sent shock waves through the creative media sector. The latest addition of artificial intelligence, which is rapidly becoming infused within the creative industries, further emphasises the need for media cities to look beyond 20th century media, while also giving people pause to critically scrutinize what remains of creativity and its industry in a world of increasing automation.
In MediaCity, visitors to BEYOND Conference will discover powerhouses of twentieth century media – notably the BBC, ITV, and companies like Dock10 – who have been producing television programmes over the airwaves for decades. They will also discover companies experimenting with augmented reality experiences, new forms of immersive sound, and a community minded to exploit the new creative potential of technology across animation, film, gaming, and immersive experiences.
Amidst the talk about what the media city of tomorrow looks like, there is a growing appreciation for the centrality of the media to public life, but perhaps more interesting for city planners, how central the media is to innovation within a range of other sectors. Whether it is health care, automotive, or education, the media industries are more relevant now to more people than ever before and part of the opportunity that surrounds the centrality of this sector is to harness this and reimagine a media city that is fit for the 22nd century.
By Professor Andy Miah, MediaCity Immersive Technologies Innovation Hub, University of Salford, Manchester.
Explore MediaCity at BEYOND 2024 Fringe on November 25th
On 25th November, you can discover what Greater Manchester’s MediaCity is like, with tours and demonstrations from its creative community, as part of the BEYOND Fringe. Make sure you arrive into MediaCity by lunch time for a full experience.
View the full schedule of events and register your participation HERE.
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Professor Andy Miah, PhD (@andymiah), is Chair of Science Communication & Future Media, at the University of Salford, where he is also Principal Investigator for the Innovate UK UKRI funded MediaCity Immersive Technologies Innovation Hub. In his University role, Prof Miah is the Ethics in Artificial Intelligence Champion and leads its Metaverse Special Interest Group. Professor Miah’s research investigates the ethical, legal, social and cultural questions concerning technological change and his publications draw on ideas from science, technology, art, and media culture. Author of 10 books and over 150 academic articles, Professor Miah has been at the forefront of debates about how humanity is moving beyond conventional evolutionary processes and towards evolution by technology. His recent works have focused on artificial intelligence, esports, digital health, and the metaverse. He regularly interviews for a range of major media companies and has appeared in over 300 outlets, including Fortune, Vogue, BBC, and regularly published with The Conversation.
MediaCity, University of Salford, and the MediaCity Immersive Technologies Innovation Hub are Lead Local Partners for BEYOND 2024. For more information on all BEYOND’s 2024 Partners; including AHRC, British Council, Salford City Council, GM Business Growth Hub, Innovate UK Bridge AI, Creative Manchester, CoSTAR, The Black XR Network UK, and IDA XR Studio, please see our Media Pack.