Unexpected effects of an urban transformation slowed by economic crisis. the return of artists to the creative district 22@barcelona

Abstract

The changes generated in the industry during the second half of twentieth century were specially visible in some areas, like Poblenou in Barcelona. In 2000 the Barcelona City Hall promoted a great project of transformation in this old industrial neighbourhood; an urban, social and economic project that aspired to create a new district of innovation. After the beginnings where the great investment in real- estate occurred, the economic crisis slowed some projects originally planned and cancelled others. This new situation promoted a reflection about the transformations undertaken and made possible that some groups, for example artists, integrate better in the project. In this sense, the case of Poblenou in Barcelona is opposed in some way to the common tendencies in other cities where artists are attracted in initial stages of the transformation and then expelled in advanced stages. This expulsion of artists happened in Poblenou too. The novelty in Barcelona relies on the return of the artists to the neighbourhood from 2008, coinciding with the real-estate crisis. This return means a change respect to the traditional processes of artist expulsion, generally more lineal.