{"id":43602,"date":"2026-08-10T17:02:01","date_gmt":"2026-08-10T16:02:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aaaarts.com\/?p=43602"},"modified":"2026-08-11T10:22:18","modified_gmt":"2026-08-11T09:22:18","slug":"when-cities-start-buying-attention","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aaaarts.com\/en\/art-lancet\/when-cities-start-buying-attention\/","title":{"rendered":"When Cities Start Buying Attention \u2014 Different Paths of Cultural Governance Seen Through the Keep Running Controversy \u2014 Jay Chau"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Attention Can Be Bought. Brands Must Be Built. Cultural Value Must Be Cultivated Over Time.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">The recent controversy surrounding the Chinese variety show <em>Keep Running<\/em> (<em>\u5954\u8dd1\u5427<\/em>) has sparked widespread debate after reports emerged that the programme had charged significant production fees to multiple local cultural and tourism authorities. Some questioned whether investments ranging from several million yuan to nearly RMB 20 million were justified, while others argued that such arrangements represented normal commercial cooperation in a market economy.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">However, if the discussion focuses only on whether a television programme is \u201cworth the price\u201d, we may overlook a more fundamental question:<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Why are so many cities willing to spend substantial resources to purchase attention?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">This reflects a growing phenomenon of <strong>attention anxiety<\/strong> among cities. In the attention economy, competition between destinations has become increasingly intense. In the past, cities attracted visitors through their natural resources, geographic advantages, and economic opportunities. Later, they competed through city branding and image-building. Today, many are increasingly dependent on their ability to capture public attention.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">A trending topic, a viral video, or a popular television programme can suddenly place a city in the spotlight, making attention itself a highly sought-after resource for local cultural and tourism authorities.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Yet attention is ultimately a means, not an end.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">The more important question is whether cities that invest heavily in short-term attention are also building long-term cultural assets.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">In recent years, many Chinese cities have embraced television productions, variety shows, and influencer marketing as strategies for cultural tourism promotion. These approaches can generate immediate visibility and provide measurable results through data such as views, searches, and visitor numbers.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">However, attention and influence are not the same thing.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">A city that captures public attention today may not remain memorable tomorrow. A successful television programme may create a temporary increase in visitors, but it does not necessarily create lasting cultural appeal.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">From the perspective of cultural governance, the real challenge is not simply attracting attention to a place, but creating a place that continues to deserve attention.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">The distinction is fundamental. The former is about communication; the latter is about value creation.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">As a resource-limited city-state, Singapore has long faced intense international competition. Yet it is notable that Singapore has rarely relied on a single television programme, celebrity endorsement, or viral moment to define its identity.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">From the Singapore Arts Festival and Singapore Biennale to decades of investment in heritage conservation, public art, and cultural infrastructure, the underlying strategy has remained consistent: not chasing temporary attention, but steadily building a distinctive cultural brand.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Even Singapore\u2019s internationally recognised identity as a \u201cGarden City\u201d was not created through a single campaign. It was shaped through decades of sustained investment and policy commitment.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Today, when people around the world think of Singapore, they associate it with cleanliness, safety, multiculturalism, and a harmonious relationship between urban development and nature. They do not associate it with one particular successful marketing event.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">This demonstrates an important principle:<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>A successful city brand is built through long-term cultural investment, not short-term attention campaigns.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<h1><strong><span style=\"color: #000000;\">The British Experience: Why Content Matters More Than Attention<\/span><\/strong><\/h1>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Beyond Singapore, the United Kingdom offers another valuable example.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Over the years, I have visited various cultural institutions across Britain. What impressed me most were not large-scale attractions designed around mass appeal, but places that appeared to have little interest in chasing attention.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">The Black Country Living Museum, located in England\u2019s West Midlands region, is, on the surface, a local industrial heritage museum. It does not rely on celebrity appearances, influencer installations, or aggressive advertising campaigns. Yet it has become one of Britain\u2019s most successful industrial heritage museums, attracting visitors and school groups from across the country.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Its success comes from something more fundamental: content.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">The museum does not attempt to imitate London, nor does it follow every cultural trend. Instead, it focuses on the unique industrial history of the Black Country region and transforms that history into an immersive experience through relocated historic buildings, reconstructed environments, and live interpretation.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Visitors do not come simply because the museum is famous. They come because it offers something authentic and irreplaceable.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Interestingly, after the popular television drama Peaky Blinders filmed scenes there, the museum gained further public recognition.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">But the order of events is crucial:<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">The television series did not create the museum\u2019s value. The museum already possessed meaningful cultural content; the programme simply expanded its reach.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Content creates attention. Attention does not create content.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">This is where many cultural tourism projects risk misunderstanding the relationship between visibility and value.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">When more and more cities compete for the same sources of attention \u2014 celebrities, television programmes, and short-form videos \u2014 city identities can gradually become increasingly similar.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Audiences remember the programme rather than the place. Visitors remember the celebrity rather than the local culture.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">The result is a paradox:<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Everyone is competing for attention, yet fewer places are truly distinctive.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">At the same time, cities are forced to spend increasingly more resources competing for limited public attention. If this model continues, destinations may become trapped in a cycle of:<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>buying attention \u2192 losing attention \u2192 buying more attention.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"color: #000000;\">From Purchasing Attention to Building Public Value<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">In recent years, international cultural policy discussions have increasingly focused on the concept of <strong>public value<\/strong>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Cultural investment should not be measured only by immediate economic returns. It should also be evaluated through its long-term contribution to social identity, community participation, education, and cultural sustainability.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">If a city has a substantial budget, spending it on a single television programme may generate temporary attention. However, investing the same resources into cultural institutions, heritage revitalisation, public cultural spaces, or local creative ecosystems can create value that lasts for decades.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">The former creates exposure.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">The latter creates assets.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Attention disappears quickly. Cultural assets continue to grow.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">The controversy surrounding <em>Keep Running<\/em> is therefore not fundamentally about whether programme fees are reasonable. The deeper question it reveals is:<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>When cities become increasingly accustomed to purchasing attention, do they still have the patience to build cultural value of their own?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Because ultimately, what determines whether a city will be remembered by the world is not how much attention it can buy, but how many stories it possesses that cannot be copied.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Attention can be bought. Brands must be built. Cultural value must be cultivated over time.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">For cities seeking sustainable development, this may be a far more important challenge than achieving any single moment of public attention.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">China does not lack cities capable of appearing on television programmes. What it needs are more places like the Black Country Living Museum \u2014 places that remain worth visiting even without a television show, a celebrity endorsement, or a viral campaign.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #808080; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\"><em>*Originally published in Chinese by Lianhe Zaobao (Singapore) on 28 July 2026.*<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p>\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014<\/p>\n<div data-post-id=\"39389\" class=\"insert-page insert-page-39389 \"><p style=\"font-size: 8pt; color: #808080;\"><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">About the Author: Jay Chau<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-size: 8pt; color: #808080;\"><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">Jay Chau is the Chairman of the Asian Art Association Singapore, a cultural programme initiator at AAA Arts, and a member of the British Art Network (BAN). He holds a Master\u2019s degree in Advanced Public Policy and Management from the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-size: 8pt; color: #808080;\"><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">Since founding the Asian Art Association Singapore in 2018, Jay has been dedicated to advancing international art exchange, curatorial practice, and public cultural initiatives through the philosophy of \u201cArt Creates Public Value.\u201d His work explores the intersection of art, society, public policy, and cross-cultural dialogue.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-size: 8pt; color: #808080;\"><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">A former professional at NetEase and Tencent, Jay has extensive experience in digital innovation and public communication. His cultural perspectives have been featured by People\u2019s Daily, South China Morning Post, Lianhe Zaobao, and Central News Agency (Taiwan). He has also undertaken curatorial studies at the Royal College of Art (RCA) and participates in international cultural exchange initiatives. He continues to explore how art can serve as a bridge between communities, cultures, and societies.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Attention Can Be Bought. Brands Must Be Built. Cultural Value Must Be Cultivated Over Time.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":43444,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[690],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-43602","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-art-lancet"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>When Cities Start Buying Attention \u2014 Different Paths of Cultural Governance Seen Through the Keep Running Controversy \u2014 Jay Chau - AAA Arts<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aaaarts.com\/en\/art-lancet\/when-cities-start-buying-attention\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"When Cities Start Buying Attention \u2014 Different Paths of Cultural Governance Seen Through the Keep Running Controversy \u2014 Jay Chau - AAA Arts\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Attention Can Be Bought. 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