Forgotten values of industrial city still alive: What can the creative city learn from its industrial counterpart?. (June 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Kozina, Jani; Bole, David; Tiran, Jernej
• Is Part Of: City, culture and society. Number 25(2021)
• Publication Date: 2021-06
• Subjects: Industrial culture -- Post-socialism -- Narrative analysis -- Inclusive governance -- Public well-being -- Social innovation; Cities and towns -- Periodicals; Urban anthropology -- Periodicals; Sociology, Urban -- Periodicals; Cities and towns; Sociology, Urban; Urban anthropology; Periodicals; 307.76
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ccs.2021.100395
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1877-9166

Abstract

Abstract: In the last two decades, the creative city agenda has evolved into a predominantly neoliberal policy instrument, which seems to hide rather than reduce urban inequalities characterised by gentrification, unaffordability, precariousness, and segregation. Scholars have only recently started to search for alternatives for understanding and developing the creative city of today by highlighting the usefulness of older concepts of urban development. However, nobody has yet focused on the modernist city of public well-being as a historical city from the industrial age, where culture serves as the articulation of shared values in everyday life. The main objective of this paper is to elevate the discussion on the creative city and its socially regressive urban policies by promoting the forgotten values of the industrial city not only as its predecessor but also as its contemporary offering development alternatives. We conducted 23 semistructured interviews with key stakeholders in the industrial town of Velenje, Slovenia, which rapidly grew as a socialist town after WWII in Yugoslavia. Our results suggest that collective knowledge, memories, emotions, and reflections maintain the inseparable values of industrialism and socialism on which the town was founded. Industrial development has shaped a specific cultural environment, a concentration of tacit knowledge, attitudes, values, and traditions related to solidarity, mutual respect, multiculturalism, comradery, equality, and diligence. These values are in line with socialist nostalgia as a retrospective utopia, desire and hope for a safe world, solidarity, and prosperity. We conclude that creative cities could learn from their industrial counterparts by establishing a more inclusive urban governance and promoting social innovation. However, the industrial city is also endangered by endogenous lock-in effects that can be overcome with the ideas of the creative city, which implies a mutual learning between both urban concepts. Highlights: The creative city suffers from neoliberalism reflected in urban inequalities. The industrial city offers development alternatives based on shared values that can complement the idea of the creative city. Inseparable values of industrialism and socialism are reflected in inclusive urban governance and diverse social innovation. The industrial city is also endangered by endogenous lock-in effects that can in turn be overcome by creative city ideas.