The urban political economy of attention: the case of São Paulo's Centro

Book chapter, 2025

The media has long interested urban scholars, but the pervasiveness of digital mediatisation has revealed limitations in how the media is conceptualised within the field. This chapter takes a digital ethnographic approach, focusing on the case of São Paulo's gentrifying Centro neighbourhood, to explore how cities adapt to social media – developing an understanding of urban mediatisation focused on attention as a new form of capital in the contemporary urban economy. Interviews with investors reveal that restaurants and bars increasingly view themselves as hubs for the exchange of attention capital, adapting their business practices to align with social media logic and become more ‘viral’. Attention flows through the urban economy: purchased from influencers, offered to customers, and traded with suppliers. As it integrates into the city's political economy, attention re-shapes urban aesthetics and transforms the built environment – with profound implications for urban life.