Cities and Cultures

Cultures of Image Construction. Approaching Planning Cultures as a Factor in Urban Image Production

“…Approaches to culture and planning have therefore been intensely discussed since the 1990s, resulting in a whole lot of knowledge on the meaning of culture for planning and the various roles of culture in planning (Bianchini, 1993;Zukin, 1995;Evans, 2001;García, 2004;Benneworth and Hospers, 2006;Miles, 2007).…”

“…As fragmentation, segregation, repression, and exclusion are widespread challenges in today's cities, planning is tempted to apply culture to its interventions to attribute new meaning to places and build common values on the shoulders of cultural expression. In this respect, culture can be both, artistic work and specific ways-of-life -in each case directed at regenerating parts of the city that have suffered from recent processes of urban change (Evans, 2001;Miles, 2007;Springer, 2007). And fourth, culture is heavily employed in strategies towards global competition.…”

“…Such models of planning strongly emphasize big projects, particularly those, which promise visibility on the global scene, where contest over resources and attention resides. Here the famous examples of cultural planning emerged: museums like the Guggenheim in Bilbao and events like EXPOs or the European Capital of Culture each culture city needs to inhabit (Scott, 1997;Evans, 2001;García, 2004;Miles, 2007).…”

“…The image of cities as such has recently received massive attention as a decisive factor in global urban competition (Helbrecht, 1994;Evans, 2003;Kavaratzis, 2004). And culture with its attached values is considered not only a generator of attention on global business and tourism markets, but also an appropriate means of global distinction and local identification (Evans, 2001;Miles, 2007). Hence, it is a reasonable thematic base of urban images.…”

“…And, the prevalent entrepreneurial, outward-oriented politics of planning (Hall and Hubbard, 1996) suggest to take a closer look at the production of urban images as a central instrument in this context. This focus is of even greater interest in relation to planning cultures, as thematic diversity and image success vary heavily among recent projects (Evans, 2001(Evans, , 2003Miles, 2007). Consequently, the presumption is that realization and image-related accomplishments of anything from museums, theatres and cultural quarters to music festivals, sports events and capitals of culture are massively influenced by the local contexts of planning.…”