The gender aspect of marketing and communication discourse in the context of digitalised urban development

The article examines the transformation of gender representations within the visual communication of marketing discourse in digitalized urban space. Drawing on interdisciplinary approaches, the authors analyze how visual imagery in advertising, media, and public visual environments reproduces and actively constructs new gender scripts that correspond with the urban logic of late modernity. The study focuses on the impact of digital media on the processes of gender socialization, the role of algorithmic marketing in reproducing stereotypes, and the potential for critical visual resistance within inclusive urban environments. The theoretical framework integrates Fredric Jameson’s concept of the cultural logic of late capitalism, Zygmunt Bauman’s notion of liquid modernity, and Philip Kotler’s Marketing 5.0 paradigm, which emphasizes the ethical application of technology. Methodologically, the research is grounded in critical analysis of over sixty empirical studies, data from UN-Habitat and UN Women, and spatial mapping of advertising media across different functional zones of metropolitan areas. The findings reveal that algorithmic personalization, based on historically biased datasets, reproduces patriarchal patterns even in campaigns that declare inclusivity. Spatial segregation of visual content reinforces professional hierarchies: female bodies tend to be concentrated near service clusters, while masculine figures dominate financial and innovation districts. However, brands that embrace body positivity and multidimensional female agency statistically achieve higher audience loyalty, premium pricing capacity, and increased brand capital, as evidenced by BrandZ and GUM index metrics. Gender-sensitive marketing in the digitalized city emerges as a full-fledged instrument for shaping an inclusive public sphere that transcends representational barriers, ensures cultural diversity, and promotes social mobility. Inclusive advertising has a measurable positive effect on the emotional comfort of the urban environment, strengthens brand equity, and contributes to sustainable socio-economic development. Keywords: city, digitalization, communication, advertising, gender, modernization, postmodernity, visuality, space, culture, social media, brand, identity, innovation, media design.