Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Guido Guerzoni 22th November 2012 Lesson 1 Urban policies and cultural institutions
. Comprehensive and integrated vision and action which leads to the resolution of urban problems and which seeks to bring about a lasting improvement in the economic, social and environmental condition of an area that has been subject to change. Source: Urban Regeneration: A Handbook, Peter Roberts and Hugh Sykes (eds), Sage Publications, 2000 Revitalization/rebirth/restart/regrowth Connotations death/life: bring back life illness/health: restore health decline/growth: end decline/bring growth
Historical premises
1980s: Economic and urban decline II Industrial revolution sectors collapsed Industrial-port activities were centered in downtowns: endangered areas Increasing globalisation Erosion of the key traditional competitive functions of cities. Situation encouraged leaders to count on a large-scale urban renewal to start a change of economic strategy: culture become the new fix.
Urban regeneration as part of the new city marketing or urban image building
Urban competition as a domain of conflict How new? Who is competing with who? Between nations or between city types? International level: world cities with each other? London, New York, Tokyo World city definition: highest level of concentration of corporate headquarters, hence level of control Second order cities with each other: Manchester/Milan/Munich All cities want to be called world cities e.g. Paris, Berlin, Beijing, hence the pressure to avoid a clear definition Emphasis on PR/hype. But images matter to decision-makers
Why Cities?
Policy agenda was driven at this city level rather than by national governments. Culture could provided more possibilities for de-industrialising cities where innovation, entrepreneurialism, and local vision were key. They could contribute to: Employment Image Sense of vibrancy and cultural richness Wider creativity and innovation Role of subsidised art and culture
Analytical or justificatory/symbolic
Knocking down houses and replacing them by new ones, or urban regeneration Urban regeneration has a very strong symbolic element It draws on the ideas of renewal and urban competition It defines itself as something obviously good and therefore discourages critical analysis It is a symbol in shaping elite and public perceptions of change Urban regeneration is part of a justificatory discourse
140 member Public-private partnership to revitalise Metropolitan Bilbao Implements the Revitalisation Process Mission: lead the citys vision of success for the next Millennium Value: Aptitude to incite interest and energies of different leaders and institutions through the common project of a metropolis of the future Success: Capacity to convert itself into a meeting point for all sectors, which warrants its ability to unite the public and private forces
EMBLEMATIC PROJECTS AND INFRASTRUCTURES: Metro Guggenheim Museum Bilbao Euskalduna Conference & Concert Hall Expansion of the port New Airport Terminal Regeneration of the Waterfront: Abandoibarra Water Treatment Scheme
Endowment of high quality cultural infrastructures = strong magnet for the attraction of visitors to Bilbao and the area CULTURAL TOURISM
MuseumQuartier, a brand name for a physical cluster site, the Imperial Stables Home to 40 cultural organisations, 2 new museums & theatres, a site for creative industries production Located in the historic city centre & developed to provide 2 major museums A link to the Imperial Palace and an old suburb Grand vision for an old city to reassert itself as a major cultural centre in the world A solution to cultural accommodation crises
Visionary architectural approach combining graded property with 21st Century architecture Combined & concerted approach to marketing the Museum Quarter for the benefit of individuals A unique centre for creative industries production, Quarter 21, and major cultural icons such as the Leopold Museum Attracts more than 2 million visitors per annum of which 33% are international visitors
Istitution Castello di Rivoli (2006) Mart (2004) Maxxi (2013) Centre Pompidou (2006) Louvre (2005) Londra National Gallery (2005)
4.485.000
2.471.600 6.412.000 3.500.000 2.470.000 4.570.000 1.300.000
51
89 109 40 111 219 264
1.136
965 1.157 744 834 1.800 1.500
24.000.000
760
4.560
13
Local Subsidiaries: Louvre at Lens Alliances: The Hermitage spill-over, UBS-Moma Financial resources: the last fundraising campaing launched by the MET collected 1,3 B$ in two years
Entrepreneurial attitudes
Several cultural institutions created by worldwide famous architects (objective: 2018): Guggenheim (Franck Gehry) Louvre (Jean Nouvel) Maritime Museum (Tadao Ando) National Museum Performing art centre (Zaha Hadid)
Universal
Agreement between Emirates and French government Involved all the muses de France collections and expertise that might be lease during the 30 years contracts to the Abu Dhabi museum Universal museum: mutual understanding between cultures 1 billion euros over 30 years (not included construction costs) Objective: 2012: 24000m Creation of the Agence internationale des muses de France (French public agency) that will provide museum expertise Over 10 first years of opening, Frances museums will loans artwork. At the same time, Agence provide expertise to Emirates to buy a create its own collection The largest cultural controversial of the decade.
More than a museums franchise strategy, the Abu Dhabi case reveals that museums are becoming a tool for national branding strategies : it is a part of a new Frances branding strategy , mostly based on culture [rapport Levy] (As it used to be here, 10 years ago, when the UK was rebranding as Cool Britania)
In Abu Dhabi, not only Louvre, but also Sorbonne (opened in 2006)
It is also a part of a wider trade contract with Emirates and a relevant part of the diplomatic strategy in the middle east