The Development of the Cultural Capital Projects Contributing to Urban Regeneration - Term Paper Example

Describe the development of the cultural capital projects contributing to urban regeneration Introduction: Recent innovation sin technologies, social life, political developments and economic developments have necessitated the need for revitalization or regeneration of the urban life. Hall (1998) says that almost all cities are trying to compete with each other to redefine their economic, social and cultural activities. He adds that urban regeneration has led to the globalization of the local cities. This globalization has become a priority for the development of the cities and subsequently the countries. Urban regeneration involves the development of land for urban use and has gained importance during the late 19th century. This urban regeneration contributes a lot to the history and development of a place or city. In all these developments, the impact of culture has a great part. According to an article , The contribution of culture to regeneration in the UK (2004), the relation between culture and regeneration has been identified by three relations , namely culture – led regeneration, cultural regeneration and finally culture and regeneration. Thus the role of culture in urban development and regeneration seems to be very strong. Also a dynamic and innovative cultural sector acts as an indicator for the overall growth of the urban sector. The involvement of culture in the urban regeneration has great impacts on the local economy, new policies for the development of cultural industries, the quality if lifestyle in the cities and the overall image of the city. The major aspects in the development of cultural capital projects towards the urban regeneration are new culture policies that need to increase the community involvement and social issues as priority. Impact of culture in urban regeneration: The relationship between culture and cities, creative industries and culture have been studied extensively by authors like Landry and Bianchini, (1995) , Florida, (2002), Bianchini and Parkinson, (1993) and others. New urban cultural policies have contributed a lot to the urban regeneration of the West European countries. A major factor that contributed to the need for urban regeneration happens to be the reduced working time and the high amount of disposable income. Due to this factor, it could be seen that many people tend to spend more in leisure activities. Lavanga (2006) states that this change in cultural habits among the people acts as the key for urban regeneration , which demands “city governments to increase the expenditure on culture and create specialised bureaucracies and policymaking bodies, to enhance their provision of cultural services to cater for growing, more sophisticated and differentiated public demand. This process has been favoured and encouraged by national policies for the decentralisation of powers from central to regional and local government, by the emergence of grassroots and social movements raising new kinds of cultural demands (blurring the distinction between ‘high culture’ and ‘popular culture’), and by the need of adaptation to the social and economic transformations caused by the process of economic restructuring of the 1970s and early 1980s.” The other cultural factors that demand urban regeneration includes the growth of cultural consumption in terms of music, tourism, food, fashion, art and the related industries. Scott (1997) has said described that “as we enter the twenty-first century a very marked convergence between the spheres of cultural and economic development seems to be occurring.” Thus there has a significant shift in the culture strategies form 1970s to the 1980s. This has led to the convergence of the old cultural activities with the emerging cultural consumption, leading to emergence of cultural industries like theatres, modern painting, photo , video and other digital technologies. The secondary industries that were on demand due to cultural change, include that of fashion design, industrial design, architectural planning, publishing, advertising and others. While these changes lead to urban regeneration, on the other side, urban regeneration may necessitate the destruction of historic buildings, legal acquisition of private properties for urban development projects and even relocation of the residents. These drawbacks stand behind , when the common challenges are transition to a new industrial city with a better lifestyle among the people . As the cultural activities tend to attract media and tourists, the growth in these sectors has been tremendous. Bianchini (1993) explains that urban regeneration due to culture involves a complex process influenced by factors of physical, social, economic. He has also identified various dilemmas like audience dilemmas, spatial dilemmas and economic development dilemmas and cultural funding dilemmas, that arise due to these factors. The first is the audience dilemmas that arises due to conflicts between local residents and tourists. The spatial dilemma may be due to tension between the central places of the city and the peripheral places. The third dilemma due to economical factors may be influenced by conflicts between cultural production and cultural consumption. The last one, cultural funding dilemma may be related to supporting the primary infrastructure. To have a sustained urban development, there needs to be a balance in the investments and proper cultural planning. This cultural planning involves the potential to identify the problems related to urban regeneration. Lavanga (2006) explains the aspects of cultural planning as “Central to this approach is the perception that cultural policies, if integrated and co- ordinated with other urban policies, can have a leading position within urban development strategies. The cultural planning is not a sectorial approach focused on the development of separate cultural sectors or forms; two-way relationships have to be developed between the cultural resources and any type of public policy.” Thus the cultural policy making strategy has to be more satisfactory with respect to the demands of the citizens, local business, local community workers, public – private partnership workers. This will enable urban regeneration with the local culture being preserved. Development of capital projects: The development of any capital project requires the identification of sources, planning and general policy guidelines. The funding sources are generally from federal grants, taxes, revenue bonds, local improvement funds and special revenue from cultural activities. Apart from identification of funding sources, there needs a careful planning that is taken care of by planning boards. The major issues of concern during the development of capital projects are master plans, planning criteria, condition assessments and infrastructure plans. The implementation of such cultural capital projects has the following stages of screening / capital investment strategy, purpose and need of the capital project, assessment of project feasibility, actual design of the project and finally the implementation. Examples of cultural capital projects for urban regeneration: There had been continuous urban regeneration all around the world that have been based on cultural policies. One such example is the growth of Rotterdam in Netherlands. Being the second largest city in Netherlands and after the recession in 1970s, the city started it’s urban regeneration based on the cultural policies. The people in Rotterdam are highly skilled but less educated. The population comprise ethnic minorities. The major job among the people is in the ports. The development of the city is primarily due to the activities of the city council and the Rotterdam City Development Corporation, which are involved in regeneration of the housing projects. The famous architect Rem Koolhaas has been responsible for a series of architectural firms in Rotterdam (Kloosterman and Stegmeijer, 2004). The first urban development plan was initiated in 1980 and “ Policies were developed to promote high-grade services for citizens and visitors and to raise the spatial quality through, for example, architecture and the reorganisation of public squares. Architecture has then been used as a form of advertising for the city, able to transmit a catching, idiosyncratic image of urban vitality and integral part of the incorporation of cultural investment and policy into urban growth strategies (eg. the Kop Van Zuid area).” ( Lavanga, 2006). Many cultural festivals and events were organized that were aimed at attracting tourist so as to improve the image of the city, revitalize the economy, improve the cultural infrastructure. The recent cultural plan was focused on the education sector, usage of the cultural diversity, inviting private sector to play important roles in the urban development of the city, maintain the cultural heritage of the city, strengthening culture as a toll for urban renewal. Lvanga (2006) adds that “ The Municipality of Rotterdam, through the OBR, started several projects to stimulate cultural production: in particular in the audiovisual cluster within the Schiecentrale and in architecture and design within the Van Nelle Fabriek. Schiecentrale is a former powerhouse located in the Lloydkwartier, an old port area involved in a process of urban regeneration.” Another example presenting the urban regeneration through development of cultural capital projects is the case of Tampere in Finland. This city could be quoted as the best example of urban management and regeneration. The study of Lavanga ( 2006) again states that “ In Finland, public financing for the cultural sector has always been part of the Finnish governmental policies. The community generally strongly recognises culture as an important part of the public expenditure policy. Fiscal incentives for donations and financing to the cultural sector are quite low, and not so much support for cultural activity from the private sector can be highlighted…. The EU policies have reinforced the latter development and linked public cultural policies more closely to urban and regional development and social cohesion policies.” Most of the cultural activities were centred around the Tampella , Tullikamari area. The major regeneration activities that could be seen in these area include the revitalization of the old industrial area, development of town around Finlayson, development of urban quarters in the industrial area with all kind of city facilities, traffic design, the museum in Vapriikki, museum quarter nearby, educational institutions, shopping complexes. Lavanga (2006) adds that “ Today, Finlayson is becoming a versatile centre for communication technology and multimedia, housing more than 80 companies (among which a sizeable concentration of designers, media, advertisement producers) with over 3,000 employees, a theatre complex, restaurants and cafés. The range of mixed uses and activities in an area, which supports and reinforces each other, are not limited to the pattern of the normal working day, providing also the basis for an ‘evening and night economy’. The intensity of activities repeats the historical intensity of the industrial past. Although the new identity diverges from the former one, the notion of production is continuing through the development of forms of cultural production.” Discussion: It can be said that city planning authority and cultural policy makers contribute a lot to the urban regeneration. The major issues associated with these regeneration work involve long term cost plans , consultation with all local communities and cultural organisation, ensure urban regeneration as part of sustainable production aimed at cultural export, initiate cultural investments, assessing the impact of cultural over the urban development projects and finding out the feasibility of success. It can be seen that culture has a strong impact on the urban regeneration and acts as a key catalyst in building the image of the city. Conclusion: In conclusion, it can be said that the development of cultural capital project aimed at urban regeneration is a complex process involving the interaction of socio – economic, cultural aspect. The process does not just include the creating of urban facilities, it also involves the initiative to build local support, frame appropriate cultural policies, encourage entrepreneurship, establish local identity. It can also be identified that cities could move from investment in cultural investment to investment in urban investment by firm cultural policies. References Bianchini, F. & Parkinson, M. (Eds.) (1993). Cultural Policy and Urban Regeneration: the West European Experience. (Manchester: Manchester University Press) Bianchini, F. (1993). Remaking European cities: the role of cultural policies. (In F. Bianchini & M. Parkinson (Eds.), Cultural Policy and Urban Regeneration: the West European Experience. Manchester: Manchester University Press) Florida, R. (2002). The Rise of the Creative Class: And How It’s Transforming Work, Leisure, Community and Everyday Life. (New York: Basic Books). Hall, P. (1998). Cities in Civilisation: Culture, Innovation and Urban Order. (London: Weidenfeld and Nicholson) Kloosterman, R. C. and Stegmeijer, E. (2004). Delirious Rotterdam? Path-Creation and The Emergence of a Cluster of Architectural Firms in Rotterdam. Draft paper for the City Futures International Conference, Chicago, 8-10 July. Landry, C. & Bianchini, F. (1995). The Creative City. (London: Demos). Mariangela Lavanga, (2006), The contribution of cultural and creative industries to a more sustainable urban development. The case studies of Rotterdam and Tampere, http://www.fokus.or.at/fileadmin/fokus/user/downloads/acei_paper/lavanga.pdf . retreived 14 MAy 2010. Scott, A. J. (1997). The Cultural Economy of Cities. International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, 21 (2), 323-340 Read More