Revista de Investigaciones Universidad del Quindío,

34(S3), 166-174; 2022.

ISSN: 1794-631X e-ISSN: 2500-5782


Esta obra está bajo una licencia Creative Commons Atribución-NoComercial-SinDerivadas 4.0 Internacional.


СULTURE ROLE IN CONSOLIDATION POTENTIAL DEVELOPMENT FOR URBAN COMMUNITIES IN AUGMENTED SOCIAL REALITY


EL PAPEL DE LA CULTURA EN EL DESARROLLO DEL POTENCIAL DE CONSOLIDACIÓN DE LAS COMUNIDADES URBANAS EN LA REALIDAD SOCIAL AUMENTADA



Valentin P. Babintsev1*; Galina N. Gaidukova2; Zhanna A. Shapoval3


1. Belgorod State National Research University, Belgorod, Russia. babintsev@bsu.edu.ru

2. Belgorod State National Research University, Belgorod, Russia. g_gaidukova@bsu.edu.ru

3. Belgorod State National Research University, Belgorod, Russia. shapoval@bsu.edu.ru


*corresponding author: Valentin P. Babintsev, babintsev@bsu.edu.ru



ABSTRACT


This present article mainly intends to evaluate conjunctive and disjunctive trends in modern urban culture development within the context of augmented social reality, which is characterized by hybridity, saturation with machinery and technology, the availability of communicators. The methodological foundation of the study is the materials of the sociological study carried out by the authors over the course of 2020 in three areas of Belgorod, including a) the questionnaire survey of the urban people (500 individuals) on the basis of a quota (by age and sex), multistage and zoned sampling; b) the expert surveys; c) Focus groups (urban youth, and mass media staff). Given the results of the conducted sociological study, the authors state the presence of a dynamic balance between disjunctive and conjunctive tendencies in the cultural sphere growth, at least in towns.


Keywords: social consolidation; urban community; urban culture; cultural waste; consolidation potential.


RESUMEN


El presente artículo pretende principalmente evaluar las tendencias conjuntivas y disyuntivas en el desarrollo de la cultura urbana moderna en el contexto de la realidad social aumentada, que se caracteriza por la hibridez, la saturación de maquinaria y tecnología, la disponibilidad de comunicadores. La base metodológica del estudio son los materiales del estudio sociológico realizado por los autores en el transcurso de 2020 en tres áreas de Belgorod, incluido a) la encuesta de cuestionario de la población urbana (500 individuos) sobre la base de una cuota ( por edad y sexo), muestreo polietápico y zonificado; b) las encuestas de expertos; c) Grupos focales (jóvenes urbanos y personal de los medios de comunicación). Dados los resultados del estudio sociológico realizado, los autores constatan la presencia de un equilibrio dinámico entre tendencias disyuntivas y conjuntivas en el crecimiento del ámbito cultural, al menos en los pueblos.


Palabras clave: consolidación social; comunidad urbana; cultura urbana; desecho cultural; potencial de consolidación.


INTRODUCTION


The lifestyle of urban society (normally involving all urban residents, however, in fact, only those who at least once in a while voluntarily participate in resolving urban issues, hence, needed the subject status) in the new, greatly unsteady fact, is featured by a opposed communication of 2 inclinations that are oftentimes described as social disjunction and social conjunction (Babintsev et al., 2021).


The notions of social disjunction and conjunction in that inference are near to social disintegration as well as social integration. The variation among them, is slim. The utilization of the initial pair rather than the second one is because of two main causes. Mainly, a good knowledge that the term conjunction is further neutral, since it has been utilized way less frequent than integration in political and social discourses. (Buffel & Phillipson, 2016).


As opposed to the fall of the urbanized communities that undauntedly becomes a rational results of consolidation, autonomization results in the set of solidarity as a regulation of its life. Adonina et al. (2018) put an emphasis that “consolidation is utilized to feature the procedure factors of social assimilation, whereas, unity is applied to define the attained state or the results of that kind of processes. Meanwhile, solidarity is understood as a law of relations among people, on the basis of preparedness for reciprocal trust, knowledge, involvement in dialogue on an greatly vast set of issues and accountability for their options (Danilina, 2016). Hence, the variations and distinctions between disjunction and conjunction, and autonomization and consolidation, are that the initial pair defines the tendencies in an urban ambiance. (Bungin et al., 2021).


It is totally apparent that many residents, except for those who tend to be guided by antisystemic, destructive attitudes, would rather integration and consolidation for the growth of urbanized areas (Seredkina, 2016). That is completely usual of human being essence, stated in the preparedness to recognize themselves with social groups, communities and, if needed, preserve their benefits. Mwilambwe-Tshilobo and Spreng (2021) claims that individuals have a tendency to grouping that even the tiniest causes appears to result in intergroup conflicts and collective solidarity.


The growth of new cities leads more elements to appear that address the issue of social conjunction. They are related to the escalation of the procedure of forming and operating of the systems of territorial complex socio biotechnical hybrid. That permitted Babintsev et al. (2021) to draw a conclusion that the planet is changing fast into a range of sociobiotechnical means of several scales.


A new city is an instance of that kind of systems where technical, ecological, technological, and social domains shape integrity and, common for any systems, new merits strange to its several factors. Adonina et al. (2018) described that the contemporary cities are networked metabolic organisms. It is accurately suspended on the network providing it along with outer resources and power. The individual who generated and resides in the city not merely negotiates or conflicts, but also differentiates or unites. That city is deemed as a multilateral area, not confined by territory, and also by by the action of data, individuals, or even products (Scott & Storper, 2015).


In the sphere of socio-economic, that is impeded by the heightened rate of social inequality and differentiation (Teka et al., 2017). Particularly, over the course of the public discussions of the draft approach, uncertainties were frequently raised regarding the likelihood of consolidating residents of strata that vary substantially in their economic sources and status of income (Strasser et al., 2015). The development of the conjunctive-consolidation potential is tough for the administrative and political arena, self-organizing based on the laws of competition among the governing elites (Timakova et al., 2020; Atwa et al., 2019).


Regarding those causes and factors, it should be believed the cultural arena to own the most important chances for the growth and development of the conjunctive-consolidation potentials in contemporary cities, which is because of its several innate characteristics.


First of all, the culture arena, like any other arena, possesses its models of behavior being shaped. Having said that, in the cultural systems, they own a specific meaning. Cultural models are the core of the organizations of the whole range of subsystems in the action system. The primary role of that core identifies the cultural systems from the personal and social systems, and also from the behavioral organism (Paddeu et al., 2018).


Second of all, culture is primarily concentrated on communication, as the latter “is the carrier and source of the preservation and creation the of culture. Nonetheless, it seems that communication that emphasizes the social conjunction, and boosting the integration quality, by the multiplications of cultural samples, raises the potentials of the second one (Seredkina, 2016).


Third of all, literally culture permeates all arenas of public lives, and, as Bungin et al. (2021) state, social system depends upon cultural systems that are in part institutionalized in them. That makes cultural instances global and hence, helps at least with their understanding.


Furthermore, the cultural arena owns the procedures that generate obstacles to the build-up and formation of conjunctive-consolidation potentials. Those are related to the particulars of the operating of culture in an urban ambiance, the most crucial features of which is a heightened rate of reciprocal alienation, resulting in a reduce in the effectiveness of interactions (Atwa et al., 2019)


METHODS


The article attempts to evaluate some of the present changes in urbanized culture because of augmented fact over the course of the sociological study «Sociocultural Consequences of the Formation of Urbanized Sociobiotechnical Systems». It has been performed in the Belgorod region’s area over the course of 2020 and involved:



RESULTS AND DISCUSSION


The results demonstrated no steady representations of the negative and positive features of urbanized culture amongst the participants. The initial group oftentimes is referred to accessibility (31.80% of participants), inclination toward the benefits of an “regular” person (28.60%) and a diversity of forms (27.80%). Amongst the undesirable ones are the culture commercialization (27%), a low aesthetic level (25.40%), the pop music dominance (23.40%) (Fig. 1a, b).


Figure 1a. Responses of urban residents to the inquiry: “What do you prefer most in modernized urbanized culture?” (select at most 3 answers)


Figure 1b. Responses of urbanized residents to the inquiry: “What do you not like most in modernized urban cultures?”


A substantial part of the interviewed experts vividly registers the procedures related to the hybridization and technologization of culture. Forty percent of participants stated the substantial utilization of information technologies and tools as the most substantial alterations in the sphere, and 23.3% - the formation of hybrid culture areas (Figure 2).


Figure. 2. Experts’ responses to the inquiry: “How do qualitative alterations, if any, in urbanized culture demonstrate themselves?» (select maximum two respones)


Meanwhile, focus group respondents anticipated more intensification of this procedure (“growth toward digitalization, informatization” − Aleksandr, student, age 20).


Respondents of the mass survey didn’t arrive at a common notion in evaluation the influence of information technologies and tools on the cultural procedure. 36.60% of them stated the gadgets and tools make the culture more in need, 43.4% said opposite. The most optimistic were the youth: 51.70% related the development in need for culture with the utilization of technical tools (Figure 3).


Figure. 3. Responses of urbanized citizens to the inquiry: «Do you believe the vide usage of information technology and tools has made culture more in need?» (%)


The participants who accept the favorable effect of technical tools on the cultural procedure in the city (nearly half of them - 48.20%), associated that primarily with a rise in the abundance of cultural values (66.80%), supplying a chance to directly evaluate and discuss the outcomes of cultural tasks (34.00%), the appearance of new kinds of art on the basis of information technologies (34.00%) (Figure 4).


Figure. 4. Responses of urbanized habitants to the inquiry: “In your idea, what are desirable outcomes of the usage of information technology and tools in cultures?”


The portion of participants who adversely evaluate the effect of technical tools on the cultural procedures in the urban area equaled these giving positive evaluation (44.00%). The primary argument has been the reality that technologization outcomes in the increasing volumes of unreliable and poor-quality data «cultural waste» (58.20%). The next adverse results were also referred to: degradation of conventional forms of consumption and creation of cultural values (33.60%); change of culture into a commodities (30.50%). Roughly one quarter mentioned the outbreak of «piracy» that infringes on copyright, and also problems in adjusting to information technologies for some citizens groups (Figure 5).


Figure. 5. Responses of citizens to the inquiry: “In your idea, what are adverse effects for the mass usage of information gadgets and technologies?»


Furthermore, respondents of focus groups have been inquired to assess the way the contemporary data and digital tools and gadgets alter the cultural procedure in the city; also they oftentimes held opposite ideas. Amongst the positive tendencies, particularly, were the cultural process activation, the facilitation of acquiring data regarding cultural incidents, a rise in the attractiveness and coverage of particular incidents. Negative have been the communication devaluation.


“The major drawback is that we are entering the online world, with less live interaction. We state our idea in the messages on virtual World. In reality, individuals grow more intimate, with fewer friends” (Diana, student, age: 20).


In the meanwhile, most media representatives involving in the focus group interviews were okay with the idea that


“The usage of tools and digital technologies is making that procedure more prevalent, more in hand but more personal” (Nikita, media staff, age: 27).


Several respondents got a compromise position, stating that brand-new technologies complement instead of replacing conventional cultural goods. The next ideas have gotten totally common:


“It appears that is a cliche that due to social network, we today hold less personal interaction. It is just that individuals hold a substantial number of so diverse ways of interaction, which aren’t worse than reality” (Olga, media staff, age: 25).


Another striking reality was that over the course of the interview of the focus group, carried out after the termination of Covid-19-related restrictions, cultural staff primarily stated just positive angles of introducing contemporary gadgets and technologies into the cultural procedures:


“Over the course of Covid-19,brand-new technologies facilitated making virtual tour, as well as online concerts” (Svetlana, 35, cultural staff);


“They facilitated informing the potential audience concerning incoming cultural incidents, introducing public to the events’ content, and buying tickets to cultural online events” (Natalya, cultural staff, age: 42);


“There stands an assimilation of brand-new technologies into public lives, while the primary public places and their work are automated, improving the quality of lives of citizens, boosting the urbanized ambiance” (Viktoria, cultural staff, age: 34).


Over the course of the research, the experts have been inquired to state their attitude toward the issue of «cultural waste». 73.30% distinguished it crucial and acknowledge it likely to utilize this notion associated with some cultural proces’s products in the city. In the meanwhile, merely 36.70% expressed that nowadays, there stand more or less vivid standards making it likely to recognize it in the composition of urbanized cultures. Experts recommended as such factors: low aesthetic content of products (63.60%), destructive effect on society (45.50%), and incapability to guarantee the development and reproduction of personalities (45.50%) (Figure 6).


Figure. 6. Responses of urban residents to the inquiry: «What factors may be utilized to apart urbanized culture from «cultural waste”? (select maximum 2 answers)


Respondents of the focus group exhibited similar opinion. The next evaluation was totally common here:


“In case we deem culture as something valuable and positive, it shall bring that value. In case it is detrimental, it is cultural garbage, a dubious culture” (Aleksandr, student, age 20).


CONCLUSION


This acquired data permits one to conclude as below:



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