YANG Chao

Keywords： Digital Capital; Consumption Space; Exchange Value; Non-material; Archipelago Model

Abstract：

As the dominant form of future capital development, the pattern and visions of digital consumption space constitute a highly forward-looking and open urban proposition, carrying significant academic value and practical significance for the advancement of planning and design disciplines. This paper examines the dematerialization trend in the production of consumption space from three dimensions: technological system, social separation and cultural metaphor. By deciphering the operational logic of consumer society and the mechanisms of urban culture, the paper reveals the converted logic, media, and means of digital capital accumulation while critically intervening in the process. An archipelago model and its two typical archetypes are constructed preliminarily, providing theoretical support for new paradigms, methodologies and mediums in urban design. Furthermore, this paper puts forward three transcendent developmental pathways for the archipelago–algorithmic discourse correction, social design practice and the return to everyday Horizon–corresponding to the three levels of totality, collectivity and individuality, respectively. This research contributes to opening up new cognitive and actionable domains within the binary dialectical relationship between capital’s fa?ade of “inclusivity” and its underlying mechanisms of domination.

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