Saturday 24 July 2010

Creativity and Cities

Surprisingly, thursday night i stumbled upon a high quality broadcast. As usual, it was 00.30 (apparently this is the right time for cultural programs on italian television).
It was a documentary about Berlin and its artistic environment. The creativity is definitely having a blooming season there, and it also drives a change in the urban physiognomy of the city.
So terms such as regeneration and gentrification are well known not only for architects, sociologists and urban planners, but they are perceived as crucial processes for the future of the city by large part of the population. Indeed, these changes need to be controlled to avoid areas of the city to become big niche quartiers, inaccessible to most of the population.
Besides the transformation of former popular blocks into hip and expensive residences, another problem linked to the regeneration is the drastic conceptual changes that these areas are facing. For example, for some the quartier of Prenzlauerberg, now famous as the hippest place in the city, has lost its historical roots. It was transformed in something else, with the only purpose to make it cool, without taking care of the original Berlinese spirit that once used to live there.

Here's the doc in three parts







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