Author(s)

Ghassan Mohammed Alserayhi

Department of Architecture, College of Architecture and Planning, King Khalid University, Abha, Saudi Arabia.

The present research focuses on the duality of extraterritoriality in its physical and digital manifestations, approaching how each space affects urban planning governance and cultural memory. This highlights that new layers of complication by digital technologies underpin a different kind of sovereignty and jurisdiction. Through a qualitative, interdisciplinary approach involving case studies of NEOM and Silicon Valley, this research examines how extraterritoriality’s physical and digital forms come together to reshape societal structures and collective memory. The case studies provide a lens for understanding how physical and digital extraterritoriality impacts urban environments, drawing on insights from urban studies, digital humanities, and cultural theory. Against this background, one importantly identifies crucial literature gaps, especially regarding digital extraterritoriality concerning local governance and socio-cultural dynamics. In these gaps, the study identifies valuable information on the evolution of extraterritoriality and their addressing of contemporary changing urban contexts, thus laying a foundation for possible further research into this critical area.

Digital Sovereignty, Extraterritoriality, Urban Governance, Collective Memory, Smart Cities

Alserayhi, G. (2024) The Duality of Extraterritoriality between the Physical and the Digital: The Spatial Paradoxes through the Lens of Media and Collective Memory. Current Urban Studies, 12, 617-637. doi: 10.4236/cus.2024.124031.