Gentrification and public policies: Art and culture in urban transformation within the European context

Abstract

The process of deindustrialization has led to a change in the economic system, and consequently to a demographic crisis. The effect on cities’ urban fabric was a discontinuous and fragmented territory that encouraged episodes of social marginalization and created the conditions for speculation to operate, originating from an uncontrolled real estate market. At the same time, creativity has assumed a fundamental role in the production system, increasingly attentive to the development of goods and services related to the cultural industry. Art integration in public policies as a catalyst for urban development is adopted by the political power in order to attract investments that can contribute to the increase of capital through the revitalization of parts of the city. In this scenario, this paper aims to systematize chronologically the information inherent to the relationship between gentrification, art and public policies in order to outline bottom-up strategies encouraged by the political power that determine a sustainable transformation of urban territory. A digital cartography in a timeline format will allow to highlight the consequential interconnections between theories, practices and historical events, showing the ambivalence of the performing arts as a promoter or moderator of gentrification, and the role of politics in the evolution of this socio-economic dynamic since its first establishment in 1964 until today. This draft is part of the investigation work on the PhD thesis in Architecture of Contemporary Metropolitan Territories, which aims to elaborate guidelines for public policies that, considering art and culture as fundamental parts of the metropolises’ citizens identity construction, may define a new role for industrial areas that have been abandoned after deindustrialization. The results of this thesis are essential to amplify the research on urban regeneration of territory, cities and built spaces, one of the guiding axes of the thematic agenda to investigate and innovate Portuguese architecture.