Awarded Projects 4

DE-tro-IT (Detroit) /// Comment of the jury: !The DE-tro-IT entry examines in sound analyses various aspects of Detroit in comparison with a series of cities worldwide where, for example the amount of tourism, the media presence and its amount of activity are analyzed according to the attractiveness of the respective locations. This approach is based on a method that team member Ethan Zuckerman developed at Harvard University's Berkman Center for Internet and Society in order to compare media presence in cities and countries around the world. The results are based on the evaluation of internet search engines (Google, etc.) and agency news items (CNN, AP, Reuters, etc.) and describe the amount of attention a particular city may or may not receive at the moment.

The results of this study are then compared to a multitude of additional facts. Interesting details are thus revealed, e.g. the percentage of population decline in Detroit is found to be inversely proportional to an increase in the number of music-labels.

The aim is to develop a Shrinking Index, which will show the relationship between deficits and advantages and in the further course of the project allow for new types of interpretation and thus a better understanding of shrinking cities. The store of information will be collected in a databank and used for the creation of an interactive website."