‘Artists are a tool for gentrification’: maintaining artists and creative production in arts districts

This study investigates the relationship between arts-themed development and the strategies used by neighborhood stakeholders, including artists and other marginalized populations, to maintain their place in gentrifying arts and cultural districts. Using a case study of a state-sanctioned Arts & Entertainment District in Baltimore, MD (U.S.A.), I find that the organizations that are ‘thoughtful’ in their development actively seek to maintain the production of arts and the residency of artists in the neighborhood into perpetuity. At the same time, the influx of arts-themed development helps raise property values and spurs re-colonization of the neighborhood’s large industrial buildings, making it difficult for artists to find legal, affordable live/work spaces in the district. As illegal DIY artists’ spaces are increasingly scrutinized by city inspectors, artists and other marginalized populations lose territory in the district and feel that they are being used for capital interests. This paper evaluates arts-themed development and public–private partnerships as a strategy for maintaining artists in revitalizing neighborhoods and considers the possibilities for a more inclusive arts district through political and community engagement.     

The costs of putting Valencia on the map: the hidden side of regional entrepreneurialism, ‘creative city’ and strategic projects

ABSTRACT

Strategic projects based on culture and sports have been one of the vectors of regional development since the 1990s. Accordingly, local and regional governments have drawn up entrepreneurial strategies to project their image internationally and foster investment and tourism. These developments have been described in Spain as ‘The Calatrava Model’ for putting a city/region on the map and for boosting tourism. However, from the study of the case of Valencia and four strategic projects (The Fifth World Meeting of Families, The America's Cup, Formula 1 and The City of Arts and Sciences), we will show how there is a hidden side to this paradigm, which boils down to an unsustainable, top-down system whose sole purpose is to gain and maintain political hegemony. We will also assess the medium and long term impacts of these projects in terms of: opportunity costs, snowballing debt, corruption, and an utter breakdown of democratic controls as a result of Valencia’s poor regional governance.     

社会阶层化与城市社会空间的发展及其与城市娱乐业的(空间)关系

基于学术界共识的后工业化大城市社会空间中产阶层化的理念,本文首次提出社会阶层化的概念并指出社会阶层化主要研究在社会阶层的生活行为扩散和变化规律下,所构建的城市日常居住社区体系和日常生活行为场所体系的时空模式,以此探讨城市社会空间结构的变化。研究认为不同城市发展阶段其对应有不同主导阶层的社会阶层化空间结构。进一步从解构城市社会空间结构的演化动态角度,研究不同社会发展阶段下,社会阶层化与城市娱乐产业的对偶空间结构关系。     

The ‘creative township’ in the post-apartheid: globalisation,nation building or gentrification?

ABSTRACT

This paper analyses the ambiguities of post-Apartheid public cultural policies in South Africa by focusing on the case of the Red Location Museum and Cultural precinct (RLMCP), a multisectoral project for socio-economic development, based on tourism, art, culture, heritagisation and urban regeneration, implemented in Red Location, one of the oldest townships of Port Elizabeth. In the post-Apartheid period, cultural policies have been employed as catch-all policies that could lead to urban renewal, desegregation and development. The case of the RLMCP drives home how efforts to use art and culture as leverages to transform townships into the core of the creative city and into the prototype of a new form of neighbourhood led to exclusionary representations and patterns; moreover, it is an example of how cultural policies enforce gentrification dynamics at the local level, in the name of restructuring urban governance and rescaling the city to the global dimension.     

Children's nomination of friendly places in an urban neighbourhood in Shiraz,Iran

This study investigates how children conceive of and value the outdoor environment as a child-friendly one with particular reference to an urban neighbourhood in Shiraz, Iran. It utilizes Chatterjee's (2005. “Children's Friendship with Place: A Conceptual Inquiry.” Children, Youth and Environments 15 (1): 1–26) place friendship construct to find out friendly places and their attributes from children's points of view. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 106 middle childhood children. Findings suggest that a child-friendly neighbourhood is made up of diverse places that children use to meet their different needs. However, formal and informal open spaces, private precincts, and streets in the neighbourhood afforded highest contributions to place friendship.     

新中国成立以来的首都地铁建设

1953年9月,中共北京市委主持制定了《改建与扩建北京市规划草案的要点》,第一次明确提出“必须及早筹划地下铁道的建设”,从此拉开了北京地铁建设的序幕。北京地铁的建设一开始就与战备连在了一起,在线路方案和埋设深度等方面,军方的意见受到重视。与此同时,相关部门进行了一系列前期的规划与施工准备工作。但1961年由于经济困难,中央决定北京地铁建设暂时下马。此后由于国际形势趋于紧张,我国面临战争威胁,1965年北京地铁开始恢复建设,并成立了以军方领导人为主的地铁建设领导小组。1989年12月20日,地铁“一环一线”通过了国家验收正式投入运营。现在,北京地铁已从最初的“战备为主,兼顾交通”转变为以交通运营为中心,在城市交通中发挥着越来越重要的作用。     

思路创新:试论交通管理与城市规划的协调

作者认为,要有效缓解当前我国城市已经出现的交通拥挤堵塞等问题,除了加强道路工程建设,还必须对政府各相关职能部门既有解决问题的思路、方式进行一些改革和创新。并认为这才是当前解决城市交通问题的关键所在。而交通管理和城市规划两部门作为政府分管城市交通的主要机构,首先要做上述工作。对此,本文进行了探讨。     

Tourism planning and place making: place-making or placemaking?

ABSTRACT

Tourism destination planning and marketing are fundamentally place making actions intended to shape the image and imageability of a place. Place making is an innate human behavior, ranging from the organic and unplanned actions of individuals, defined here as ‘place-making,’ to planned and intentional global theming by governments and tourism authorities, defined here as ‘placemaking.’ Place-making and placemaking are ends on a continuum of options, with most places have a mix of local and global elements. These elements also range from the tangible (base in urban design) to the intangible (peoplescapes and imaginations). The tools of place making are essentially the same for both organic place-making and planned placemaking, but the intentions and outcomes can vary enormously. Tourism development, as an economic activity, almost always has a neoliberal planned placemaking agenda. Organic place-making emerges through individual agency, which if allowed to proceed, will make its imprint even in a heavily master planned tourism landscape. An understanding of place-making and placemaking gives insight into research questions on the political economy of tourism and the roles of hosts and guest in co-producing tourism places. Examining the elements of place making in a tourism landscape can more clearly identify how different worldview perspectives have contribute over time to the making of tourism places, and thereby assist in planning for the future development of destination communities.