Thursday, January 29, 2009

Urban Paradoxes E-zine

The synergy between social media and city living is remarkable. The latest communication technologies allow us to explore a scattered or even placeless sense of community. Instead, blogs and message boards are encouraging high-density living and helping to connect people living around the corner from each other. In that spirit, along comes Urban Paradoxes E-zine:

Urban Paradoxes is radical, cutting-edge urban journalism that gleefully celebrates urban living in its many guises, critiques conventional urban wisdom of all shades and stripes, challenges the status quo, while playfully engaging urban culture – mainstream, pop, and fringe – in dialog.

Urban Paradoxes defies description. It is more than a magazine. It is a digital magazine, an e-zine, a blog, a social net-working experience. It is a sound stage, a theater, an online TV channel, It is all of these things, yet none of these things alone. For now we will call it a e-zine!

Every issue of Urban Paradoxes is built around six themes: The Cultured City, The 24-Hour City, The Fun City, The Connected City, The Healthy City, and The Spiritual City.

We seem to be at the beginning of another urban living renaissance. New media is helping to fuel the movement. The wonders of a city have never been more visible or accessible. One of the great urban paradoxes is the isolation often felt in the company of thousands of people. Like-minded people have a hard time finding each other. Bloggers and podcast mavens, to name a few forms of today's social media, have taken some of the serendipity out of a meaningful encounter.

Scaling upwards, urbanophiles scattered around the country and the world are networking, taking advantage of the displaced possibilities that communication technologies provide. Websites such as Urban Paradoxes help the city passionate exchange stories and knowledge. Through this exchange, cities improve and attract more people. The benefits of a urban lifestyle are no longer locked up in neighborhoods.

1 comment:

Frank A. Mills said...

Thank you so very much for mentioning the e-zine.

Frank