According to an European document published in http://creativemetropoles.eu Barcelona is listed as a best practices with Berlin, Amsterdam, Oslo and Riga. In particular the same document highlights the success of a specific neighbourhood, called 22@: “as a project of urban transformation, it responds to the need to restore the social and economic dynamism or the old industrial area called Poblenou and creates a diverse and balanced environment where the different facilities coexist with state-subsidized buildings, facilities and green spaces that improve the quality of life and work.” (p.66) Indeed, in the “Communication from the commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions” (2012) - which outlines the strategies for the Horizon 2020 - it had been claimed that: “At the heart of our social fabric, culture shapes our identities, aspirations and relations to others and the world. It also shapes the places and landscapes where we live, the lifestyles we develop. Heritage, visual and performing arts, cinema, music, publishing, fashion or design manifest themselves strongly in daily life but the contribution that cultural and creative sectors can bring to social and economic development in the EU is still not fully recognised.” In this presentation it will be outlined how creative communities operating in 22@ perceive this political and urbanistic mandate, how this local and European policy affects their identities, aspirations, conflicts and relations in the city ecosystem and how they organize themselves, the synergies, collaborations or cooperation they promote to ensure work opportunity, welfare and quality of life.

1. New creative communities of citizens triggered by the crisis
and active in the smart city ecosystem
Barcelona 20th February 2014
Media-tic
Marco Polo Research Grant
Hosting Institute: IN3 - UOC
Valentina Bazzarin
valentina.bazzarin@unibo.it

2. Reality bites
When Tocqueville visited the United States in the 1830s, it was
the Americans' propensity for civic association that most
impressed him as the key to their unprecedented ability to make
democracy work. "Americans of all ages, all stations in life, and
all types of disposition:' he observed, "are forever forming
associations. There are not only commercial and industrial
associations in which all take part, but others of a thousand
different types--religious, moral, serious, futile, very general and
very limited, immensely large and very minute.... Nothing, in my
view, deserves more attention than the intellectual
and moral associations in America."
(Putnam, 1995)

3. Attraction Vs Reaction
“At the heart of our social fabric, culture shapes our identities, aspirations and
relations to others and the world. It also shapes the places and landscapes where
we live, the lifestyles we develop. Heritage, visual and performing arts, cinema,
music, publishing, fashion or design manifest themselves strongly in daily life but
the contribution that cultural and creative sectors can bring to social and economic
development in the EU is still not fully recognised.”
(Communication from the commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European
Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions, 2012)
In a recent past Barcelona had already attracted talents and it still appeals to
creative workers looking for the opportunity to express themselves. People working
in art, design and architecture contributed to change both the urban landscape and
the significance of a city working for years precariously but inspired by the “credo
that individuals actually have some power over their economic destinies” (Ross
2009). Most of this people are still based in Barcelona and they compose part of
“the precarious generation” that after the global economic crises promoted the
grassroots movement worldwide known as the “indignados”.

4. The crisis factor
Alfredo Jaar, Cultura = Capitale (2012)

5. #15M in Barcelona
Hilgartner and Bosk (1988, p.
55)

6. Creativity and Civic Hacking
Source: http://www.dispatchwork.
info/venice

7. Placement in the social context
Sennett (1999 in Featherstone and Lash, eds.) “the sense of place is based
on the need to belong not to a ‘society’ in the abstract but to somewhere in
particular; in satisfying that need, people develop commitment and loyalty. As
the shifting institutions of the economy diminish the experience of belonging
somewhere special at work, people’s commitments increase to geographical
places like nations, cities and localities.” (p.15).

8. Is the community a medium?
IT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE… An ethnographic
observation of digital agenda process perceived by
both social-media active users and social-media
inactive citizens living in Barcelona

9. Method
- Ethnography of places and communities
- 12 in depth interviews to extract keywords
- Analysis of documents
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crises
miserables
coworking
sharing
close/open
(inclusion/exclusion)
politics
immigrants/ no catalans
institutionalized
comida
selling
price
perimeter of the citadel
enclosure
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sustainability
policy change
citizens/neighborhood
attraction
recycled materials
craftsman
bricoleurs
independentist hype
violence
places safety
market opportunities
self-sufficient a
services and connections
“silicon valley for the poors”

10. Creative policies
Proven capacity of creative district to boost
realty prices in selected cities, building on
well documented and by now, formulaic
cycles of gentrification
Creative occupation do not entail costintensive institutional support
LOW LEVEL OF PUBLIC INVESTMENT
Source: http://blog.gardeviance.org/
(Ross, 2009, p.33)

11. Is the crisis reshaping the smart
and creative city?
The crisis as well as cheap and affordable technologies are reshaping the (knowledge) society

12. Sum up and further steps
what the fieldwork tells…
“is the aftermath of carpe diem” (Castells in Aftermath of the crisis)
available on Youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=RjJaheN_S20

13. Bologna calling
citizens requests:
- basic rights
- inclusion
- opportunity
- spaces of hope (Harvey)
- spaces of debate
- spaces of culture
political answers:
- spectacular urbanism
- touristic facilities
- attracting investment
- promotion of new
economic sectors