CITIES IN A CHANGING WORLD: QUESTIONS OF CULTURE, CLIMATE AND DESIGN

Description

Long before the pandemic, cities around the world have been facing enormous challenges related to social changes, resulting in a considerable impact on artistic practices and cultural policies. Though multiculturalism, gentrification or ecological management were issues at the top of political agendas, the recent COVID19 pandemic has generated other serious concerns for urban communities: for example, one became aware of the reduction of socialization acts, and the growing distance between inhabitants, perhaps diminishing civic attention to other equally pressing issues (e.g. green spaces or ecological and sustainable transport, which are definitely important problems). Since the pandemic contributed to the isolation of people, it might have increased problems of integration and conviviality among city residents.
Just now, the pandemic and the restrictions imposed by governments radically transformed the ways people use, think and feel urban public spaces. And, most important, these changes affected people's relationships with each other, and with public space. The A-Place Project was just beginning its activities when the world was
forced into global and/or partial confinement. The situation demanded new strategies for creation, sharing and communicating art and culture in public space, in order to fulfill the most of the initial objectives of the Project, specially focused on creative placemaking activities. In face of changes, it became imperative to overcome difficulties, by imagining and finding alternative ways of sharing experiences, and creating community in spaces and places (2020, Madrazo et Al.). “A Confined Place”, an A-PLACE activity, is certainly the most evident case of facing the facts and challenges of the “new empty cities”. But the partners have also tried to adapt their planned activities to the new ways of living - inside-outside - the city, and in the city.
This paper is a reflection on the issues mentioned above given that designing public activities, outlining creative work and its methodologies, and programming impact assessment methods have been an arduous task. We seek to comprehend to what extent the experience of confinement has been instrumental in understanding the horizon of artistic creation and its dissemination in public places that go, more and more, beyond a mere physical space.

Period	17 Jun 2021 → 19 Jun 2021
Event title	Cities in a Changing World
Event type	Conference
Location	Nova Iorque, United StatesShow on map
Degree of Recognition	International