Pub Date : 2025-04-12DOI: 10.1016/j.ccs.2025.100634
Abigail Gilmore , Claire Burnill-Maier
This paper critically examines place governance and cultural policy decision-making in the context of three cities - Melbourne, Manchester and Toronto. It takes an infrastructural lens to examine the narrative histories and policy rationales for creating spatial zones in which culture is demarcated as an engine for social, cultural and economic development in each of these cities. By contextualising each city in relation to their individual histories, social, economic and political dimensions, the paper offers insights into the global similarities and differences in cultural district development, exposing a reliance on interests and actors that extend far beyond the state. It finds that the zoning of cultural space intermediates these interests requiring balance and oversight to ensure democratic participation and urban justice.
{"title":"Creative improvement, cultural infrastructure and urban zones: a tale of three cities and their cultural districts","authors":"Abigail Gilmore , Claire Burnill-Maier","doi":"10.1016/j.ccs.2025.100634","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ccs.2025.100634","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This paper critically examines place governance and cultural policy decision-making in the context of three cities - Melbourne, Manchester and Toronto. It takes an infrastructural lens to examine the narrative histories and policy rationales for creating spatial zones in which culture is demarcated as an engine for social, cultural and economic development in each of these cities. By contextualising each city in relation to their individual histories, social, economic and political dimensions, the paper offers insights into the global similarities and differences in cultural district development, exposing a reliance on interests and actors that extend far beyond the state. It finds that the zoning of cultural space intermediates these interests requiring balance and oversight to ensure democratic participation and urban justice.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":39061,"journal":{"name":"City, Culture and Society","volume":"41 ","pages":"Article 100634"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-04-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143823375","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-04-03DOI: 10.1016/j.ccs.2025.100633
Estrella Sendra
Dakar is a city continuously re-signified and transformed through arts, embodying postcolonial dialogues and serving as a public sphere for speculating African futures. Inspired by Oumar Ndao's multimodal portrait of Dakar as an “uncertain territory” (Ndao, 2020) and Felwine Sarr's philosophical concept of Afrotopia (Sarr, 2019), this article examines contemporary relationships between arts, creativity, urban spaces and the world within a postcolonial city. Through a focus on murals, festivals and film, I illustrate how Dakar operates as “an active utopia”, where artists imagine and rehearse a positive transformation of the continent. Urban creativity in Dakar can thus be defined as a living canvas for postcolonial dialogues and Afrotopian dreams. Murals serve as sites of memory, honouring Senegalese filmmakers and other figures, highlighting their contributions to cinema, the decolonisation of the gaze, and including them in histories that have excluded them. Festivals re-signify ruins of utopia, showcasing artistic work in direct connection with its urban context, reusing, recycling, and rehearsing more balanced futures. Films strengthen social and political critique, addressing tensions within fiction through the re-use of ruins of utopia. Together, these artistic forms offer canvases to envision Sarr's proposition of the Afrotopia, a place and mindset where humanity is central and there is a healthier balance between economic, cultural and spiritual orders.
{"title":"Urban creativity in Dakar: Postcolonial dialogues through art in the city","authors":"Estrella Sendra","doi":"10.1016/j.ccs.2025.100633","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ccs.2025.100633","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Dakar is a city continuously re-signified and transformed through arts, embodying postcolonial dialogues and serving as a public sphere for speculating African futures. Inspired by Oumar Ndao's multimodal portrait of Dakar as an “uncertain territory” (Ndao, 2020) and Felwine Sarr's philosophical concept of Afrotopia (Sarr, 2019), this article examines contemporary relationships between arts, creativity, urban spaces and the world within a postcolonial city. Through a focus on murals, festivals and film, I illustrate how Dakar operates as “an active utopia”, where artists imagine and rehearse a positive transformation of the continent. Urban creativity in Dakar can thus be defined as a <em>living canvas</em> for postcolonial dialogues and Afrotopian dreams. Murals serve as sites of memory, honouring Senegalese filmmakers and other figures, highlighting their contributions to cinema, the decolonisation of the gaze, and including them in histories that have excluded them. Festivals re-signify ruins of utopia, showcasing artistic work in direct connection with its urban context, reusing, recycling, and rehearsing more balanced futures. Films strengthen social and political critique, addressing tensions within fiction through the re-use of ruins of utopia. Together, these artistic forms offer canvases to envision Sarr's proposition of the Afrotopia, a place and mindset where humanity is central and there is a healthier balance between economic, cultural and spiritual orders.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":39061,"journal":{"name":"City, Culture and Society","volume":"41 ","pages":"Article 100633"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-04-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143767651","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-03-24DOI: 10.1016/j.ccs.2025.100623
Ju-Sung Lee , John D. Boy , Daniel Trottier
The symbolic standing of a neighborhood has material consequences, and stigmatized neighborhoods are often locked into a disadvantageous position. So far scholars have mostly studied neighborhood change in terms of degradation or upgrading, but we adopt a complex perspective that accounts for the contested nature of the processes shaping “symbolic trajectories.” Seeking to gauge the role played by digital technologies in these processes, we studied a neighborhood in The Hague, the Netherlands. We report on our conceptual framework and research design, ethical protocols, as well as our findings and their implications. Our research combines a qualitative approach to the field with computational analyses. We investigate social media posts spanning a decade to understand how they align with symbolic trajectories. Our findings reveal competing symbolic trajectories sponsored by different kinds of actors, with a slight trend toward fewer denigrating representations. The relative divestment of major institutions from the neighborhood leaves greater room for maneuver for everyday users and resident initiatives in shaping the neighborhood image.
{"title":"Symbolic trajectories in action: Digital technologies and representations of a stigmatized neighborhood","authors":"Ju-Sung Lee , John D. Boy , Daniel Trottier","doi":"10.1016/j.ccs.2025.100623","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ccs.2025.100623","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The symbolic standing of a neighborhood has material consequences, and stigmatized neighborhoods are often locked into a disadvantageous position. So far scholars have mostly studied neighborhood change in terms of degradation or upgrading, but we adopt a complex perspective that accounts for the contested nature of the processes shaping “symbolic trajectories.” Seeking to gauge the role played by digital technologies in these processes, we studied a neighborhood in The Hague, the Netherlands. We report on our conceptual framework and research design, ethical protocols, as well as our findings and their implications. Our research combines a qualitative approach to the field with computational analyses. We investigate social media posts spanning a decade to understand how they align with symbolic trajectories. Our findings reveal competing symbolic trajectories sponsored by different kinds of actors, with a slight trend toward fewer denigrating representations. The relative divestment of major institutions from the neighborhood leaves greater room for maneuver for everyday users and resident initiatives in shaping the neighborhood image.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":39061,"journal":{"name":"City, Culture and Society","volume":"41 ","pages":"Article 100623"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-03-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143684538","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-03-06DOI: 10.1016/j.ccs.2025.100625
Giacomo Bottà
Adopting the concept of cultural extractivism, this article scrutinises how nightlife activities and spaces for live music are increasingly dependent on the forces of financialisation, which extract layers of material and immaterial assets for economic gain. Underground practices can temporarily disrupt this process, facilitating the emergence of alternative cultural practices; however, this cannot offer adequate lasting solutions and can only be addressed by creating a more equal and fairer city.
Drawing on insights from cultural studies, sociology and urban studies, this work contributes to a nuanced comprehension of the interplay between live music, the urban night, capitalist exploitation and resistance. Through qualitative analysis of interviews with city officials, club owners, party organisers, participants and DJs, the study presents a fresh perspective on the vulnerability of music ecosystems in the context of contemporary urban development.
{"title":"Extracting the night: Cultural extractivism and urban nightlife in Helsinki","authors":"Giacomo Bottà","doi":"10.1016/j.ccs.2025.100625","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ccs.2025.100625","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Adopting the concept of cultural extractivism, this article scrutinises how nightlife activities and spaces for live music are increasingly dependent on the forces of financialisation, which extract layers of material and immaterial assets for economic gain. Underground practices can temporarily disrupt this process, facilitating the emergence of alternative cultural practices; however, this cannot offer adequate lasting solutions and can only be addressed by creating a more equal and fairer city.</div><div>Drawing on insights from cultural studies, sociology and urban studies, this work contributes to a nuanced comprehension of the interplay between live music, the urban night, capitalist exploitation and resistance. Through qualitative analysis of interviews with city officials, club owners, party organisers, participants and DJs, the study presents a fresh perspective on the vulnerability of music ecosystems in the context of contemporary urban development.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":39061,"journal":{"name":"City, Culture and Society","volume":"41 ","pages":"Article 100625"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-03-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143562919","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-02-08DOI: 10.1016/j.ccs.2025.100624
Sébastien Darchen
The article analyses the development and evolution of the punk music scene in Hollywood mostly composed of expatriates coming from different states in the U.S, from L.A.’s outer suburbs and from overseas. Methodologically, I used interviews with the scene's main participants to document the key bands' trajectories and to identify elements that facilitated the emergence of the scene. To study the influence of local factors vs translocal factors, I considered Crossley's (2009) approach in his analysis of scenes and his attention to participants' networks. The article makes a distinction between what is ‘local’ in music scenes and elements associated to the trans-local dimension of scenes in the pre-internet age. In conclusion, given the positioning of Los Angeles as a World City and not being one of the birthplaces of American music, the influence of translocal factors in shaping the Hollywood punk scene was high. However, local factors such as the availability of venues for punk shows and the inputs of Mexican American artists coming from East L.A. enabled this short-lived music cluster to develop a specific brand of punk characterised notably by musical hybridization between punk and American roots music.
{"title":"Emergence and fall of the Hollywood punk scene in Los Angeles: Analysis of place-bound attributes vs translocal factors","authors":"Sébastien Darchen","doi":"10.1016/j.ccs.2025.100624","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ccs.2025.100624","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The article analyses the development and evolution of the punk music scene in Hollywood mostly composed of expatriates coming from different states in the U.S, from L.A.’s outer suburbs and from overseas. Methodologically, I used interviews with the scene's main participants to document the key bands' trajectories and to identify elements that facilitated the emergence of the scene. To study the influence of local factors vs translocal factors, I considered Crossley's (2009) approach in his analysis of scenes and his attention to participants' networks. The article makes a distinction between what is ‘local’ in music scenes and elements associated to the trans-local dimension of scenes in the pre-internet age. In conclusion, given the positioning of Los Angeles as a World City and not being one of the birthplaces of American music, the influence of translocal factors in shaping the Hollywood punk scene was high. However, local factors such as the availability of venues for punk shows and the inputs of Mexican American artists coming from East L.A. enabled this short-lived music cluster to develop a specific brand of punk characterised notably by musical hybridization between punk and American roots music.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":39061,"journal":{"name":"City, Culture and Society","volume":"40 ","pages":"Article 100624"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-02-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143369652","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Economic residential segregation is the separation of social groups in different areas of a city according to their income level. Neighborhoods have their urban characteristics or attributes. Active attributes can limit or improve access to goods or services, functionalities, or capabilities required to meet citizens' needs. This article focuses on economic diversity as an active attribute. Economic diversity is understood as the number of different types and sizes of companies represented in the same territory. Traditionally, urban planning has had two main views on economic diversity within neighborhoods. On the one hand, the proposal of the “right to the city” considers that economic diversity is an active attribute that promotes residents' access to goods and services, functionalities, and capacities to escape poverty. On the other hand, for the theory of functionalism, economic diversity is an active attribute that prevents income from improving. This article explores the relationship between the economic diversity score and vulnerability, taking the city of Quito as a case study. After calculating, mapping, and establishing the relationships between the two variables by neighborhood, it is concluded that economic diversity is an active attribute of Quito due to residential segregation and can limit the income and ability of residents of marginalized communities to escape poverty.
{"title":"More economic diversity, less vulnerability? The case of Quito","authors":"Susana Herrero Olarte, Jeniffer Rubio, Domenica Miño","doi":"10.1016/j.ccs.2024.100622","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ccs.2024.100622","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Economic residential segregation is the separation of social groups in different areas of a city according to their income level. Neighborhoods have their urban characteristics or attributes. Active attributes can limit or improve access to goods or services, functionalities, or capabilities required to meet citizens' needs. This article focuses on economic diversity as an active attribute. Economic diversity is understood as the number of different types and sizes of companies represented in the same territory. Traditionally, urban planning has had two main views on economic diversity within neighborhoods. On the one hand, the proposal of the “right to the city” considers that economic diversity is an active attribute that promotes residents' access to goods and services, functionalities, and capacities to escape poverty. On the other hand, for the theory of functionalism, economic diversity is an active attribute that prevents income from improving. This article explores the relationship between the economic diversity score and vulnerability, taking the city of Quito as a case study. After calculating, mapping, and establishing the relationships between the two variables by neighborhood, it is concluded that economic diversity is an active attribute of Quito due to residential segregation and can limit the income and ability of residents of marginalized communities to escape poverty.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":39061,"journal":{"name":"City, Culture and Society","volume":"40 ","pages":"Article 100622"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-01-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143172427","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-12-26DOI: 10.1016/j.ccs.2024.100621
Stefania Środa-Murawska
This study explores cultural development strategies in medium-sized cities in Poland, aiming to identify their types and evaluate their application in the context of post-socialist transformations. The typology proposed by Grodach and Loukaitou-Sideris was adapted for the Polish context. Findings reveal a predominantly progressive approach, emphasizing support for local communities and cultural production, alongside partial adoption of entrepreneurial strategies aimed at city promotion and tourism. A new strategy type, ‘cultural identity rejuvenation’ (CIR), is introduced. It is characteristic of medium-sized post-socialist cities in Central and Eastern Europe and reflects activities such as revitalizing city centers, constructing cultural facilities, and promoting local heritage. The study illustrates that while these cities try to adopt Western models of cultural strategies, the evolution of their cultural sector is profoundly shaped by their socialist heritage and systemic transformation challenges. The findings highlight the pivotal role of cultural strategies in driving social transformation and economic growth.
{"title":"Models for cultural development strategies and the experience of medium-sized cities in Central and Eastern Europe — A case of Poland","authors":"Stefania Środa-Murawska","doi":"10.1016/j.ccs.2024.100621","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ccs.2024.100621","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study explores cultural development strategies in medium-sized cities in Poland, aiming to identify their types and evaluate their application in the context of post-socialist transformations. The typology proposed by Grodach and Loukaitou-Sideris was adapted for the Polish context. Findings reveal a predominantly progressive approach, emphasizing support for local communities and cultural production, alongside partial adoption of entrepreneurial strategies aimed at city promotion and tourism. A new strategy type, ‘cultural identity rejuvenation’ (CIR), is introduced. It is characteristic of medium-sized post-socialist cities in Central and Eastern Europe and reflects activities such as revitalizing city centers, constructing cultural facilities, and promoting local heritage. The study illustrates that while these cities try to adopt Western models of cultural strategies, the evolution of their cultural sector is profoundly shaped by their socialist heritage and systemic transformation challenges. The findings highlight the pivotal role of cultural strategies in driving social transformation and economic growth.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":39061,"journal":{"name":"City, Culture and Society","volume":"40 ","pages":"Article 100621"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-12-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143172428","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-12-17DOI: 10.1016/j.ccs.2024.100620
Olga Kolokytha , Raffaela Gmeiner , Tove Henriksson , Anna Anetta Janowska
This paper researches the mechanisms generating inequalities in the music and games sectors using the Global Production Network approach. It explores where, how and in what form inequalities are found in the music and games sectors through the examination of three case studies. By unpacking the structure and dynamics of the production network of each case study, it identifies power imbalances and how inequalities are created through different power relations. Three types of inequalities are discussed, namely market access, gender and intersectionality, and working conditions. The paper also showcases the importance of the GPN perspective for the CCS: GPN enables a holistic understanding of inequalities in different phases of CCS in a detailed and causal way which can, in turn, facilitate the adoption of policies and measures that address all phases of the production network rather than concentrating in just one.
{"title":"Let's play equal! Researching mechanisms of inequalities in the music and games sectors using the Global Production Network approach","authors":"Olga Kolokytha , Raffaela Gmeiner , Tove Henriksson , Anna Anetta Janowska","doi":"10.1016/j.ccs.2024.100620","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ccs.2024.100620","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This paper researches the mechanisms generating inequalities in the music and games sectors using the Global Production Network approach. It explores where, how and in what form inequalities are found in the music and games sectors through the examination of three case studies. By unpacking the structure and dynamics of the production network of each case study, it identifies power imbalances and how inequalities are created through different power relations. Three types of inequalities are discussed, namely market access, gender and intersectionality, and working conditions. The paper also showcases the importance of the GPN perspective for the CCS: GPN enables a holistic understanding of inequalities in different phases of CCS in a detailed and causal way which can, in turn, facilitate the adoption of policies and measures that address all phases of the production network rather than concentrating in just one.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":39061,"journal":{"name":"City, Culture and Society","volume":"40 ","pages":"Article 100620"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-12-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143172429","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-12-13DOI: 10.1016/j.ccs.2024.100617
Enrico Petrilli , Alberto Vanolo
The relation between the urban diurnal and the urban nocturnal has been famously conceptualized with the metaphor of the night as frontier. Originally proposed by Murray Melbin in 1978, the phrase suggests that the nocturnal has been gradually colonized by the capitalist logics of the day. This article contributes to provincializing night studies by postulating a nonlinear and non-dichotomous relation between the urban diurnal and nocturnal. Specifically, the article adopts the philosophical perspective of the constitutive outside, as articulated in a recent strand of contemporary urban studies, exploring the paradoxical and even contradictory generative tensions shaping the meanings, materialities and politics of the urban night. This theoretical posture is explored through the case of Turin, Italy, a city that has developed a complex tension between the diurnal and the nocturnal which cannot be interpreted simply from a dichotomistic perspective, as the metaphor of the urban frontier suggests.
{"title":"What is nocturnal about night studies? Insights from Turin, Italy","authors":"Enrico Petrilli , Alberto Vanolo","doi":"10.1016/j.ccs.2024.100617","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ccs.2024.100617","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The relation between the urban diurnal and the urban nocturnal has been famously conceptualized with the metaphor of the <em>night as frontier</em>. Originally proposed by Murray Melbin in 1978, the phrase suggests that the nocturnal has been gradually colonized by the capitalist logics of the day. This article contributes to provincializing night studies by postulating a nonlinear and non-dichotomous relation between the urban diurnal and nocturnal. Specifically, the article adopts the philosophical perspective of the <em>constitutive outside</em>, as articulated in a recent strand of contemporary urban studies, exploring the paradoxical and even contradictory generative tensions shaping the meanings, materialities and politics of the urban night. This theoretical posture is explored through the case of Turin, Italy, a city that has developed a complex tension between the diurnal and the nocturnal which cannot be interpreted simply from a dichotomistic perspective, as the metaphor of the urban frontier suggests.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":39061,"journal":{"name":"City, Culture and Society","volume":"40 ","pages":"Article 100617"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-12-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143172430","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-11-28DOI: 10.1016/j.ccs.2024.100610
Christine Mady, Hossam Hewidy
Public libraries are public spaces that simultaneously respond to and reshape their contexts, by bundling different programme, and numerous functions that synergistically support social interactions among diverse users. They offer domestic, work and leisure environments, hubs and platforms for civic dialogue, encounter, tolerance of differences and exposure to cultures. Less is known about the interaction between library buildings and their surroundings, or the influence of their design and governance on social practices. Through a relational perspective, this article explores how library buildings interact with their surroundings, what the implications of their spatial qualities, and governance are for deterring or promoting various user activities. Two case studies in Helsinki, Oodi and Maunula libraries are used in this investigation. Findings reveal linkages between outdoor spaces and the libraries, with Oodi merging with surrounding outdoor activities and Maunula's management transforming the perception of a stigmatised space. The flexibility in space governance supports social interaction and informs about future considerations regarding social outreach. The buildings' design with transparent, open spaces and flexible layouts provides alternative uses and allow adaptations to cater for diverse leisure, work, education activities and support social relations.
{"title":"The public library building as nexus for social interactions: Cases from Helsinki","authors":"Christine Mady, Hossam Hewidy","doi":"10.1016/j.ccs.2024.100610","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ccs.2024.100610","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Public libraries are public spaces that simultaneously respond to and reshape their contexts, by bundling different programme, and numerous functions that synergistically support social interactions among diverse users. They offer domestic, work and leisure environments, hubs and platforms for civic dialogue, encounter, tolerance of differences and exposure to cultures. Less is known about the interaction between library buildings and their surroundings, or the influence of their design and governance on social practices. Through a relational perspective, this article explores how library buildings interact with their surroundings, what the implications of their spatial qualities, and governance are for deterring or promoting various user activities. Two case studies in Helsinki, Oodi and Maunula libraries are used in this investigation. Findings reveal linkages between outdoor spaces and the libraries, with Oodi merging with surrounding outdoor activities and Maunula's management transforming the perception of a stigmatised space. The flexibility in space governance supports social interaction and informs about future considerations regarding social outreach. The buildings' design with transparent, open spaces and flexible layouts provides alternative uses and allow adaptations to cater for diverse leisure, work, education activities and support social relations.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":39061,"journal":{"name":"City, Culture and Society","volume":"40 ","pages":"Article 100610"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-11-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142747955","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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