Chatzitryfonos, P (2024) Co-creating the Future: A Digital Placemaking journey from strategic Augmented Reality development to Community Engagement via Transmedia Storytelling for local town centre revitalisation. UNSPECIFIED thesis, Liverpool John Moores University.

Preview

Text 2024chatzitryfonosphd.pdf - Published Version Available under License Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial. Download (12MB) | Preview

Abstract

This research project represents a practice-oriented exploration centred on the revitalisation of Huyton town centre in Knowsley, an area in need of rejuvenation. Its primary focus is on placemaking, viewed as a collaborative approach that harmonises the top-down strategic planning of the local Council, the initiator and sponsor of this project, with the creative involvement of the community. The main aim is to derive insights for a participatory digital placemaking strategy that revitalises local areas in line with societal needs.To attain this objective, the project began by closely working with officials from the Knowsley Metropolitan Borough Council to review digital prototypes and create a streetscape experience for the town centre. This joint effort culminated in an external creative company's procurement for developing a Mobile AR app. Concurrently, another facet of the research involved community workshops. These workshops employed a storytelling approach to envision the future of the town centre, allowing residents to participate as both designers and visionary storytellers. These sessions led to the creation of a transmedia storytelling experience named "Future Huyton", a digital narrative that integrates with key town centre locations via the AR app. It encourages locals and visitors to interact with imagined future scenarios specific to these sites and to contribute their own narratives and viewpoints.
The research navigates through various phases of exploration, trials, and achievements to discover how collaborations among different stakeholders can be enhanced and coordinated for maximum effectiveness in joint efforts aimed at local rejuvenation. Most importantly, it outlines a digital strategy for placemaking that encourages the active involvement of local communities in creative endeavours and innovative co-creation processes and articulates technology, creativity, and growth opportunities. These contributions aim to foster the establishment of an inclusive environment for placemaking in the region, underpinned by strong creative and technological bases.

Item Type:	Thesis (UNSPECIFIED)
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Digital Placemaking; Participatory Placemaking; Creative Placemaking; Augmented Reality; Transmedia Storytelling; Community Engagement; Futures Studies; Co-creation; Design Fiction; Creative Writing; Town Centre Regeneration
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > H Social Sciences (General) N Fine Arts > NX Arts in general T Technology > T Technology (General)
Divisions:	Screen School
SWORD Depositor:	A Symplectic
Date Deposited:	10 Jun 2024 14:07
Last Modified:	10 Jun 2024 14:07
Supervisors:	Smith, M, McLean, R and El-Jarn, H
URI:	https://researchonline.ljmu.ac.uk/id/eprint/23383

View Item