URBAN REGENERATION AND THE ROLE OF CULTURE : AN INTRODUCTION TO CULTURAL QUARTER

Konsep creative city merupakan salah satu cara untuk memenangkan kompetisi antar kota pada era globalisasi ini. Adalah penting bagi kota untuk mengubah imagenya menjadi sesuatu yang baru atau lebih baik, karena proses tersebut akan mendorong terjadinya peningkatan investasi bagi sebuah daerah atau kota itu sendiri. Perencanaan perkotaan membutuhkan strategi yang tepat untuk melakukan proses regenerasi kawasan perkotaan tersebut, salah satunya cultural quarter yang mengubah suatu kawasan yang tidak memiliki nilai ekonomis menjadi suatu daerah baru yang kaya akan potensi kultural dan ekonomis melalui proses komodifikasi. Beberapa hal yang harus diperhatikan di dalam pengembangan kawasan cultural quarter ini diantaranya adalah faktor-faktor pendukung termasuk area yang membutuhkan proses regenerasi (seperti daerah peninggalan historis atau peninggalan industri), cultural infrastructure, proses perencanaan yang tepat, networking, katalisator, dan morfologi.

The art of townscape is the conscious arrangement of physical things for man's convenience, safety and pleasure (Charles Elio)

Creative City
A city is a relatively large, dense, permanent, heterogeneous and politically autonomous settlement whose population engages in a range of non-agricultural occupations.A city, regarded as a space, has particular characteristics.These include urban resources, urban clusters, and differentiation of uses (Kostof, 1991).According to Le Corbusier, a city has many functions such as habiter (settlement), travailler (a place to work), transportation and cultiver le corps et l'esprit (recreation or leisure).When a city has a concentration of service activity as their economic base, human and economic capital plays its role as urban resources for the city.Many spaces in the city develop as certain types of cluster according to their function, such as a settlement, business, industry area and even leisure.Some spaces have not just one morphological function but they also have clusters with many different types of functions, making it a space with mixed uses.
Many towns and cities are being reconstructed not primarily as centres of production but also of consumption.It has been particularly important for former industrial towns and cities to "repackage and reposition" themselves according to the global economy, often by "normalising" their public image.What distinguish one place from another are the complexity of available services, and their connections with particular images.The development of these services is not spontaneous but it depends upon a number of economic, social and political determinants (Lash and Urry, 1994).
One of the globalization impacts is the emerging of the need to meet the challenge with global competition including for the city.Globalization puts pressure on cities to develop their specific cultures in ways that attract business, investment and high technology professionals and that convince their own residents and entrepreneurs to remain in the area (Short & Kim, 1999).Sometimes it is necessary for the city to re-imagining their place.The process of re-imagining will help the city to have a better competitive and comparative advantage in a global world.The "reimagining" process means the planner promoted "a critical mass of physical development spearheaded by a flagship project", in concept as well as in physical design, and to "dilute the backward looking symbolism of the present" (Gold & Ward, 1994).By developing a flagship project it will draw more public attention to the city from the outsider especially investors.
The concept of Creative City has been becoming a common term in urban planning.The creativity is something which is performed within situations that call for solutions, and not as an unconstrained production of something new without any constitutive background in unreflected habits (Joas, 1992).There are two factors as conceivable condition for creativity in cities, i.e. hard factors and soft factors.Hard factors include cultural facilities, access to information and knowledge on the social, cultural and economy sector, and physical development in the city.The city's history, image, value system and lifestyle are included in soft factors.
The planning does not only include the hard and soft factors; the environment always becomes one of the focal issues in urban planning.To include the environment within the planning means that the planner has an environmental perception for the project.Environmental perception is the way a cultural group perceives an environmental as a prelude to decision-making and action.As a process for collectively and interactively, the environmental planning is addressing and working out how to act in respect of shared concern about how far and how to "manage" environmental change (Campbell & Fainstein, 1996).
The question is what do we need in order to re-imagining the city into a creative city?What is the role of culture in urban regeneration and how can we change the derelict area into a creative quarter?

Urban Regeneration
City has to deal with their urban problems.One of the main problems is about the spatial issue.This spatial problem including the usefulness of derelict areas, both derelicts land or derelict buildings.On the other hand those derelict buildings gave potential as historic and industrial legacy.The new approach of urban planning is by creating a redevelopment model out of those historic and industrial legacies.The characteristics of city planning are the strategies, which are employed for the economic revitalization of the depressed urban areas and the guidelines used for environmental protection and preservation of scarce resources.Urban regeneration also means the re-structuration of a city based on cultural power perspective, which emerges in a context of mass cultural consumption and gives rise to new mechanisms of inclusion and exclusion (O'Connor & Wynne, 1996).The city can use urban regeneration strategies to solve the crisis of both urbanity and social cohesion.Urbanity is further being eroded by market-led processes of privatisation of public space and standardisation of functions and uses, and to some extent, also through style and design solutions.Similar processes are undermining social cohesion, increasing social polarisation and spatial segregation by social class, and leading to commodification of the uses of space.
Post-modernisation consider the global restructuring of socio-spatial relations as the new patterns of investment, which lead to some counter-tendencies of urban decentralisation through the redevelopment of inner city areas.This process entails the de-industrialisation of inner city areas in order to develop them as sites of tourism and cultural consumption (Featherstone, 1991).Postmodernists define space as something independent and autonomous, to be shaped according to aesthetic aims and principles.In terms of "Soft City", it is possible for people who live in it to transform their city.A city can be changed or shaped by its people depending on how they define the city.
The process of regeneration of a city is a consequence of social action in the way of what people see in a city.Regeneration emerges as a result of people who want to do something in a particular area in order to create a better place.During the process of regeneration, the type of planning can use model of top-down planning or the bottom up planning.The top down planning take place when the government is both initiator and main developer of the project, while the bottom-up approach emerges when agents besides the government are initiators and are also taking part in the project.The agents could be residents, local groups including business, cultural producers, etc.
There are many strategies for regeneration of an urban area, including gentrification, revitalisation, conservation, renovation, and development "a new creative quarter" or regeneration derelict areas.Creating cultural quarter is one of the possibilities for urban regeneration.The cultural quarter as a localisation concept means a source of dynamic learning that reinforces and is reinforced by the agglomeration of firms in the same industry.The dialectic of social interaction and cultural confrontation in shared spaces is a potential source of innovation and creativity.When a city tries to compete with others, they have to find the potential and the strengths in their region.The identity of the city can be changed and reformed by its society.

The Role of Culture
Culture has its own role in the economic revitalisation of city especially for the global competition.Place and culture are persistently intertwined with one another.Culture is a phenomenon that tends to have intensely place-specific characteristics, which help to differentiate places from one another.The assertion of place as a privilege locus of culture is the continuing and intensifying importance of massive urban communities characterised by many different specialised social functions and dense internal relationships.Each of these communities represents a node of location, specific interactions and emergent effects in which stimulus to cultural experimentation and renewal tends to be high.Local culture help to shape the nature of inter-urban economic activity, concomitantly, economic activity becomes a dynamic element of the culture generating the potential innovative capacities in a given place.Culture as identity is embedded in its local communities; it is constructed through collective action and preserved through collective memory.Those are specific sources of identities (Castells, 1997).
Cultural value is now related to economic value, but the concept of the cultural industries is not only to assist the conversion of cities into service-based economies, but also to revitalise local productive capacity in highly skilled, high value added manufacturing sectors.This could happen in at least two ways, i.e. organic links could be established by, on the one hand, local designers, visual artists and craft peoples and on the other, small firms operating in such sectors, and those cities, which are attempting to create locally controlled structures for the monitoring, management and commercial exploitation of indigenous cultural talent.
Cultural industries offer opportunities for the regeneration and revitalisation of urban centre.A cultural industry can develop and strengthen the local economy by providing mixed-use space as a space to work and to live in.As a contribution to the economic income of the city, the cultural industries increase productivity by creating a network among the people involved in the industry.It provides job opportunities by attracting more investments for the area as well as for the city as a whole, and also it can help in developing the sustainability of the society.
Cultural industry gives possibilities to expand cultural economy to a greater extent.When a place is revitalised as urban centre, it develops a pattern of spatial consequences for a new economic activities (Sassen, 1994) According to Sassen, a localised cultural system has a special interest as an image producing complex and which is characterised by: • The technologies and labour processes utilised in cultural-products industries usually involve considerable amounts of human handiwork, often and to an increasing degree, complemented by advanced computer technologies.
• Production is always organised mostly in dense networks of small and medium size establishments that are strongly dependent on one another for specialised inputs and services.
• These networks form multifaceted industrial complexes, which in aggregate tend to make huge demands on local labour markets and to require an enormous variety of worker skills or attributes.Industries are invariably involved with several external economies and they can work more effectively through location agglomeration.
• Agglomeration also facilitates the emergence different kinds of institutional infrastructures that can ease the functioning of the local community by providing critical overhead services, facilitating flows information, promoting trust and co-operation among interlined producers ensuring that effective strategies planning is accomplished.If a space is divided into coherent zones for predominantly physical, craft, artistic, intellectual and social activities, it becomes possible to co-ordinate efforts, compare costs and relate the output of each sector to the needs of the population.This regrouping of leisure space and its subdivision into zones provide the means of stimulating balanced growth of culture depending on the social group, which utilises it (Dumazedier, 1974).
It is believed that cultural industry will be able to attract new investments towards financial and administrative services and cultural tourism.Investments are generated not only in economic sector but also in cultural infrastructure, including in the creation of a network between local businesses with external (elaborate) national and even international relations within the city scope.Supporting the industry can be acquired not only financially but also via human resources (the professionals) to help local people develop their businesses.Investing in the regeneration of an area and its promotions also means that a centre of attention has been created for the city.Cultural industries as place marketing strategy should be aimed not only at potential tourists, investors and other outsiders, but also at residents.

Cultural Quarter as a Strategy
Future urban regeneration strategies will have to be balanced carefully and integrate their economic, physical, symbolic, cultural, social and political dimensions.Regeneration by creating a cultural industry must be designed to match the existing and future needs for the area.Making a comprehensive plan for an area can be start for this process, it must begin with a study of the history of the community and the environment, and of the ecological characteristics that were present at the time the community began.It should include the major events that took place during the years of its existence.It must feature the important buildings as well as the people and cultural activities that have given the community its substance and character, and have determined its growth and its place in the regional environment, and whether it has grown or withered as a result of external or internal conditions or events.
There are several reasons or frameworks for a city to start planning a creative quarter in their area.The purposes of planning an urban regeneration or urban revitalisation project as a cultural quarter include the possibility to re-imagining the city and making creative use of culture, not only as urban identity but also as a potential for cultural industry.The idea of using culture as an industry emerges when the cultural value starts to change into economic value.Here lies the idea of commodification of cultures where everything is seen as an economic sign.It means cultures have become a product or commodity in society.In order to develop a cultural industry, a city needs to make a policy, which combines both the cultural and economic aspects within the cultures.Thus, creating a creative milieu that will stimulate both cultural and economic growth of an area.
Developing a cultural quarter has become a global trend in the world, especially in Europe.Cities need to specialise and distinguish themselves because the market expands and the competition between cities grows.A way to put a city on the map is to commodity the local culture, which means to construct the culture into economic value.Cities also create cultural quarters in order to re-imagining the city.Usually they try to eliminate the negative image of a particular site in the city, or sometimes the image of the city itself.Although eliminating negative image is not the main purpose; cities try putting themselves forward as a place with competitive and comparative advantage locally (within the country) and globally (in international sense).The cultural approach has become a "trend" to put "new image" of the city in the world (or in Western Country).See for example Bilbao with their Guggenheim Museum.Nevertheless, we cannot avoid the fact that it is still the economic value of culture they try to pursue.
What are important factors in creating a cultural quarter?Based on determinant theory, Lash and Urry 1994, mentioned several determinant factors that could be important in order to create a cultural quarter.The factors include the existing and potential images of a place and the degree in which conflicting images in the surrounding area and region may exist or not; the availability of derelict buildings in a particular architectural style which can be appropriately converted into new service based uses; the sets of aesthetic interests that different social groups possess as well as their resources and capacities for effective conservation of an area's building or for transforming them; the strategies of major leisure related companies and whether the place in question meets their criteria for future investment will also influence how a place is remade; and the degree to which a hegemonic project sustained locally and organised through local government, and to which entails a particular service has led transformation of the local economy in accordance with a transformed place image.
There are several factors to define a place as a cultural quarter, as follow:

a. Conditional Factor
Conditional factor is the situation or background condition why an area has to be revitalised or regenerate.In this case, the conditional factors concern about a particular area, which has potential as a cultural quarter.Creating a cultural quarter is a project that involves cultures as economic value and the process of regeneration of a derelict area in the city.Meaning we need a space, possibly a derelict building (s) where it used to be historical or industrial legacy, for example the Westergasfabriek in Amsterdam was used to be a gas factory.Veemarktkwartier in Tilburg was used to be a centre of textile industry.Or even the Northern Quarter in Manchester was used to be a derelict shopping centre.The purpose of the project is to regenerate the area and make it a specific area for cultural producers.
Since the cultural quarter include the cultural industry as a part of process regeneration, it needs a cultural infrastructure.This cultural infrastructure could be artists, the cultural producers, and any possible actors in cultural industry including the catering and accommodation services.

b. The Planning Process
There are four recommendations for the project in the planning process.These recommendations include comprehensive plan, goal-oriented development, socialization and networking.

Comprehensive plan
Planning is an interactive and interpretative process, focusing on "deciding and acting" within a range of specialised allocation and authoritative systems while drawing on the multidimensional of "life worlds" or "practical senses", rather than a single formalised plan.Planning depends on qualitative and quantitative facts about human resources, economy and social activity.The cultural quarter needs comprehensive planning, which consists of social, economy, physical characteristics including a plan for land use, capital improvement, circulation, infrastructure and transportation.Therefore the comprehensive planning needs the teamwork of competent staff, boundless enthusiasm and it needs to engender civic interest.Cultural quarter is regeneration with open development project.It means anything can be made and adjusted with the present condition.
Every comprehensive area planning should begin with studying the history of the community; the environment and ecological characteristics that were present the time that the community formed.It should include the major events that have taken place during the years of its existence.These events must feature the most important buildings and people together with those cultural activities that have given the community its substance and character, which have determined its growth, and its place in the regional environment.The plan must also reflect on whether the area has grown or withered as a result of external or internal conditions or events.The history should also describe the local sensitivities and pride as well as having concern for both the present and future.

Goal oriented process
Development with goal-oriented approach leads to equilibrium based on rational decision-making and social justice.It is when the means-ends chain starts to work as a process of consensus among the people in the project.One of the characteristics of negotiation or collective bargaining is the interdependence among actors.All actors will need one another, which means one group cannot dominate the others.The cultural quarter project is expected to make clear the division of "who" gets "what"-"how" and "why".
Throughout the goal-oriented development, those different interests reassure the equilibrium between all the interests within the project area.Socialisation is the process within a community of transmitting prevailing knowledge, social values and behaviour patterns to its individual members (Butler 1976).Socialisation will increase the quality and quantity of social participation and mutual support in the society.Those two factors are the basic function of a community.

Socialisation
In order to have attention from the local people, a project can be socialised through mass media, peer group, education, etc, a media they are familiar with.It means that for the socialisation of the project, it is necessary to use " the people's own culture of communications".That is one of the main characteristics of culture: as a medium of communication and socialisation at the same time.Therefore it is necessary to socialise a project in their "languages" because every society has its own culture of communication.Which also means that only people within this particular society might understand the particular culture, but not by others.Local cultures of socialisation are easier to understand.And by using the local culture, one sustains the culture itself.For the local people, socialisation is hoped to urge a sense of awareness in the people that something special (a project) is going to develop in their neighbourhood and the same expectation is also held for the people who live nearby the city.

Networking
One of the negative impacts of a development project is that it causes alienation.Avoiding alienation can be achieved by making a network among the people who are already involved and the potential ones (those who will be involved) in the project.Network functions for material support as well as for information support.Network is also possibly a means of achieving goals.Therefore it is necessary to make a network among the interest groups in the project.The type of networking could be formal or informal, whether the idea comes from the government or as a response from the society.The formal networking could be an association for the society that will be able to act as an intermediary in the society between local businesses, investors and the government.Throughout the network the groups will be able to produce a strategy for developing cultural production as teamwork.Network can play a role as a media of communication between people involved in the cultural industry.The network can provide social motivation, system terms and opportunities among the people (Collins, 1983).There is a possibility that each sector in the cultural industry needs a different type of network.There are two types of network including a network as the result from demand and a network for specific sub-sectors.

c. Catalyst
In order to attract people as a target goal, the project needs to have its catalyst.Catalyst is a process of influencing the growth of something else.The catalyst reacts on a particular development project.In other words, a catalyst is the magnet, which is able to attract other sectors to get involved in a project.It could be in the form of certain events or organizations.Catalyst events and organizations can create opportunities for people with different perspectives to come together and share ideas.Public spaces can also act as catalyst by attracting different types of people and encouraging interaction.The cultural quarter as regeneration project means the development and promotion of urban cultural attractions and activities, as magnets for tourism, retailing, hotel and catering.Have their catalyst before they left the future development of the area to the open market.Moreover, the cultural quarter as the flagship project also has its role as the catalyst for another project in the city.

d. Morphology
The physical planning accommodates an efficient and aesthetic use of planning.Reorganising traffic flow and public transportation system is required for convenient interchange.This issue is covered in the physical characteristic of the comprehensive plan.Nevertheless it is also important to take care of the public land transportation.Those factors will not only be able to lead the project into a success story but will also help the people to maintain the sustainability of the cultural quarter.
Concerning as its strategy as urban generation, the location of the cultural quarter could be varied.The quarter could be start in a derelict area or building where it used to be a factory or shopping centre.There are lots of derelict spaces especially in the inner city, which could be function as the cultural quarter.

Conclusion
Promoting urban regeneration will the city to revitalise its area both in the inner city and declining suburban area.Moreover, the regeneration is about the redevelopment of derelict land, the creation of new cultural facilities, physical and environmental renewal, the construction of urban images and the promotion of retailing and tourism (Corijn & Mommaas, 1995).
A cultural quarter is a type of regeneration of urban area, which involves revitalisation of derelict spaces.The revitalisation project does not only try to regenerate an area in physical aspect, but also to commercialise the cultural sector.These derelict areas have potential to commodify its cultures into economic value.It needs a cultural infrastructure in order to be able to create a particular area as a cultural quarter.The regeneration as a cultural quarter accommodates the cultural producers and artist to work and live in the particular area.The idea using the potential of cultures as cultural industry by creating a cultural quarter emerge through a process of creativity.