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A socio-spatial comparison between two urban cultural hubs, one that grew independently in the outskirts of Beijing and deals in mostly plastic arts - Factory 798- and the other a well subsidized synthetic attempt at creating a creative center in an up and coming city- Holon's Mediatheque. The comparison is done through a historical and uran planning perspective and tries to understand, through these two examples, the influence and role, both imaginary, and real world, that culture industries can lead in a city. Specifically the paper tries to understand the different connections between these industries and the economy and community life so as to better understand the real motivation and benefits found in an important urban policy trend- cultural led regeneration. Through the comparison we find two stories of privitatizion and nationalization and shed an interesting light on the idea of cultural led urban regeneration and artistic urbanization in two post industrial cities.
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Omer Benjakob, 200207876 16/9/2012
CULTURAL INDUSTRIES, SOCIAL SPACES AND URBAN POLICY
A socio-spatial comparison of Holon's Mediatheque and Beijing's 798 art district
INTODUCTION
In my paper I will compare between Holon's cultural hub- The Mediatheque- and Beijing's
art village come art district- Factory 798. The comparison is premised on a social-spatial
assumption that culture and cultural industries do not take place within a vacuum, but
rather are formed within, and have an active role and involvement in social reality, in it
they can grow organically or be politically fostered. Such industries can have political,
economical, spatial and community or social related power and therefore cannot be treated
just as “culture” in the thin, artistic and solely content sense. Firstly I will present a few
concepts and definitions, secondly I will present each of the two areas or spaces, and
thirdly I will compare between them, focusing on policy, design, history and aims so as to
present each as an example of cultural industry development undertaken (either directly or
indirectly) with the aim of creating a form of commercial gentrification or artistic
urbanization.
THEORETICAL BACKGROUND
As a short foreword I will now present a few of the main concepts involved in this paper,
these concepts will later, in our comparison chapter, be elaborated and exemplified through
our two examples- The Mediatheque and Factory 798. In recent years culturally led process
have been accredited with almost mystical urban and social powers. Cultural industries are
defined as “advertising, architecture, arts and antique markets, crafts, design, designer
fashion, film, video and photography, software and electronic publishing, music and visual
and performing arts, publishing, and television and radio.”1 And can be delineated “into
four sectors: cultural heritage (traditional cultural expressions and cultural sites), art (visual
arts and performing arts), media (publishing and print media, audiovisuals) and functional
creation (design, new media and creative services)”2.
Such industries, seen through an economical and policy perspective, as a businesses are
accredited with having almost magical rejuvenation powers for cities and economies3;
fostering local economies and real-estate markets4; breathing new life into old structures5;
1 Ren & Sun, 2, see footnote [FT] #32 Ren & Sun, 2, FT #33 Wang & Li, 8754 Molotoch and Treskon, 519. 5 Gordach, 475
rebranding cities and districts in a certain light6 and 'aestheticizing' them in certain light
(think of Los Angeles without the Hollywood brand or New York without the “village” and
SoHo art scene). Such industries and processes are credited with attracting a certain, and
very much desired type of population and economic life. These industries either cater to, or
stem from, what Richard Florida calls “the creative class” and the desire to lure such a
population and their “creative industries” into certain areas or cities7 so as to lead to a type
of non residential or commercial gentrification8.
The creative class is a concept which assumes that “the driving force of the economy [is
not] technological or organizational, but [rather] human”9. At the local or micro level this
process can we termed culturally led urban regeneration10, a wide process of both
economical, urban and spatial processes that aims at creating not just a market and real-
estate in the thin sense but also a “scene” or a “buzz”11 at local level. From this perspective
“[c]ulture is suggested to be the solution to all, serving not only as “a source of prosperity
and cosmopolitanism”, [but] also “a means of defining a rich, shared identity and thus
engenders pride of place””12. This influence is not solely economical gentrification that
displaces one type of population with another for economic reasons but rather attempts at
creating a creative and bohemian buzz, in mostly commercial form, and this in turn is done
both for economical but also social reasons.
In this sense “[a]rtistic presence, involving not only the artists themselves but also the
establishments that service their needs and sensibilities, encourage [...] creativity['s] full
force”13. And this force is economical but also social. Through the creation of “Third
Places”14, meeting places that foster interaction, there are created “establishments that
facilitate a quasi-serendipitous meeting across occupational spheres — a scene [sic] in
which people from different sectors network, exchange knowledge and start deals [in]
specific venues through which artistic currents can connect to other sectors in ways that
amplify the arts impact”15. Gordach [2009] terms these places as “community art spaces”,
and defines them as “[f]lexible and multifunctional” spaces that “not only present art, but
6 Wang & Li, 8757 Wang & Li, 875, Ren & Sun, 48 Moltoch & Trekson, 517-5189 Wang & Li, 875 Citing: Vanolo, A., The image of the creative city: Some reflections on urban branding in
Turin. Cities, 2008. 25(6): p. 370-382. 10 See Wang & Li, 2009, THE RHETORIC AND REALITY OF CULTURE-LED URBAN
REGNERATION – A COMPARISON OF BEIJING AND SHANGHAI, CHINA 11 Moltoch & Trekson, 51712 Wang & Li, 875 (aka Jun, find original citation or state “citing:”)13 Moltoch & Trekson, 517-51814 Moltoch Trekson, 518, Citing (Oldenburg, 1999; see also Lloyd, 2005) find original or cite citing.15 Moltoch Trekson, 518, Citing Currid, 2007; see also Saxenian, 1994; Pratt, 2002; Indergaard, 2004
often serve as art school, resource and outreach center, and community gathering space”16.
These types of spaces can be created by “non profit organization”, governmental, usually
“municipalities [which] operate their own art space” while others “are run cooperatively by
artists”17. But what is important for us is to understand that they fall well within cultural
industries and show that such industries hold both local social and economical advantages.
Specifically “[w]hen located in proximity to one another, galleries, in particular, generate
continuous flows of individuals and small groups from one spot to the next”18, a new and
specific mode of pedestrian and urban “choreography” if you will. Other types of
“‘culture’, such as music and dance production, [...] also bring people together in particular
places, [that] tend to affect sidewalks and streets [...] before and after performances”. The
presence and life force “of galleries and coffee houses [is] that they bring in [and] attract
intermediaries who translate the cultural edge into entrepreneurial initiative [and] designate
the ‘buzz’ that results as a fundamental economic resource”19. So “scene” and “buzz” go
hand in hand with both economical as well as social and communal benefits,
supplementing one-another.
Historically, cultural led development, or the active endeavor of promoting such industries
within a city was an idea that “gained prominence among many entrepreneurial mayors
who attempt[ed] to accelerate economic growth and finally project their cities to higher tier
in the global city hierarchy [and] produce a distinctive hybrid identity with a promise to
offer a unique living or visiting experience”20. While such industries are always part of the
free market, Ren & Sun [2011], quoting Kong [2000] claim that “the development of
cultural policy in the advanced economies has undergone three phases, with its focus
shifting from building high-culture institutions (in the 1950s and 1960s), to community
development and social welfare functions (in the 1970s), and then to generating local
revenues (since the 1980s)”. (Ren, 3). More so, as a policy “the creation and sustenance of
arts districts has thus become a focus [...] at the local and regional level in the US and
Europe, reaching up to national agents, as well as the European Union.”21 In this regard, at
face value this seems to be a liberal project, one that requires “forging an inclusive and rich
multi-cultural air that is claimed to be valued by the creative class”22 however as we shall
see, specifically in the case of China, this is not always either the case nor the end result,
and it's true identity is one of economical, cultural and social process in a post industrial
16 Grodach, 47517 Moltoch & Trekson, 51918 Moltoch & Trekson, 51919 Moltoch & Trekson, 51920 Wang & Li, 875,21 Moltoch &Trekson, 51822 Wang & Li, 875,
and globalized world.
798, Beijing, CHINA
798, or Dashanzi Art District as it is sometimes called23, is an art village turned commercial
center and “community” art space located in the Chaoyang district near Beijing's 5 th and 6th
ring (See figure 1 and 2). Historically a state of the art military factory, built in the 50's 24 in
saw tooth Bauhaus-style (see figure 3) by East German engineers with Soviet and Chinese
funds under the name “Joint Factory No. 718”25 as a symbol of Maoist industrial China.
Factory 718 (with 7 denoting the military industry or military ties26) was at the time “the
biggest and most expensive complex in Asia and included several different factories, of
which Factory 798 was the largest”27 was divided in 1964 into several independently run
but mutually owned factories28. Despite its military and hidden nature the space was
“looked at with awe and pride by Beijingers, due to the glory of factory life under
Chairman Mao”29, “under” being the key word here as at the center of one of the spaces of
Factory 798 there is a huge portrait of Chairman Mao, looking down at the (now long
gone) workers.
23 Currier, 23824 Ren & Sun, 725 Currier, 242, Wang & Li, 87726 Wang & Li, 877, 27 Currier, 24228 Wang & Li, 877, 29 Currier, 242
Historically it was a symbol of industrialization and cooperation inside the Communist
world, part of Beijing's first five year plan it's goal was to convert a square kilometer of
farm land into a modern industrial complex, a shift that the country itself was suppose to go
through. However as the years went by and deindustrialisation took place the complex
began laying off workers (numbering anywhere from 10,000 to 20,000 at its peak and
currently housing no more then 1,000)30. As a result there was a need generate revenue so
as to fund workers pensions, therefore the owners- “Seven Stars Group”31- started leasing
out some of the spaces, thus creating the “space” and cheap rent needed for artists to move
in32.
Coincidentally in 1995 the YuanmingYuan (art) Village was shut down (with the help of
police) (see Figure 1), leaving many bohemian artists space and homeless33. In the same
year the Central Academy of Fine Arts was being relocated from its central location in
Wanfujin, to the then undeveloped suburb of Huajiadi in to the northeast of Beijing, with
an empty factory in Huajiadi functioning as a temporary space until the compilation of the
new structure on a near by 200 acre plot. However the head of the sculpture department,
Sui Jianguo, found the place unsuitable for his craft, as sculpting required larger space and
higher ceilings. This led him to search for a new space which eventually led him to find an
30 Currier, 242, Wang & Li, 87731 Seven Stars Group is the “government sanctioned owners of the complex” (Currier, 242) and was formed
in by all but one of the factories in the complex (Wang & Li, 877)32 Currier, 242-24333 Ren & Sun, 7, Wang & Li, 877
empty workshop within the confines of Factory 79834.
Around the same time the refugees from the YuanmingYuan (art) Village and others
villages that were shut down, started to rent spaces within the complex as well, attracted by
low rent prices, vast spaces and minimalistic Bauhaus style35. In 2000, when the new
campus was done Sui, accustomed to the large space, decided to return to the factory, only
this time for his personal studio. In his steps other artists followed, and during the same
year “designer Lin Jing and publisher Hong Huang also moved in”. A year later “the
number of artists occupying the workshop increased. There were established artists like
Professors Yu Fan and Jia Difei from art schools, famous musician Liu Suola, and
struggling contemporary artists as well”36. In light of this process artistic organizations and
other para art industries moved in “ranging from art galleries like Season Gallery, to
bookstores like “Timezone 8,” and to complexes like “Time Space,” which offers an
exhibition space and a cafe” By 2003 “around 30 artists and organizations set up studios or
offices in the area, while 200 more were reported to be on the waiting list”37.
At the most basic level this process exposed “the marketability of the arts [and] cultural
entrepreneurs followed suit”38. The “artists rehabilitated industrial workshops into spacious
art studios and exhibition spaces”39 and following the areas first international exposition, in
2002, “there was a drastic increase in the attention and promotion of 798, sparking an
explosion of development”. Internally the place boomed and now holds “about a hundred
galleries (a number that is probably already outdated), as well as numerous trendy
restaurants, cafes, nightclubs and remodeled offices”40 and hosts several local and
international art festivals as well as a number of influential foreign galleries. Externally it
“quickly became the epicenter of the contemporary Chinese art scene” and paralleled and
feed the growth in economical value and esteem of Chinese contemporary art41.
Economically, 798 has become a “real estate hot spot”42.
However government relationship with the area had always been ambivalent. Over the
years there had been fears that the factory would be torn down, less because of artistic or
political reason but rather economical ones stemming from Seven Stars' and local
government's development plans to turn the area into “China's Silicon Valley”43. Also the
34 Wang & Li, 877-87835 Currier, 24336 Wang & Li, 87837 Wang & Li, 87838 Currier, 24339 Ren & Sun, 740 Currier, 24441 Ren & Sun, 742 Currier, 24443 Currier, 248
political tension around artist in China is not something to be taken lightly in this context
and the area has been subjected to occasional raids and censorship44, however this has been
impeded by foreign and local attention to the area; whether it's via foreign corporate
sponsors who hold interest in the area or international press' attention to the factory or the
international and local art scene's interest in preserving the space's unique identity45.
FIGURE 3- Bauhaus-style factory
In 2004 “it [Seven Stars] stopped renting to foreigners or cultural institutions and took
numerous actions to hinder the district’s artistic growth, such as preventing the entry of
taxis into the area and tearing down exhibition posters”46. This led to both local / grassroots
activism and international pressure to preserve the area as it is. Politically, a local sculpture,
Li Xiangqun, was elected to congress where he lobbied for preservation, and as a direct
result “in December 2005 the national government pledged five hundred million renminbi
(US$62.5 million) towards the promotion of creative industries [and in 2006 as part of ] the
eleventh five-year plan for Beijing [it] designated 798 a creative business zone”47. More so
during the 2008 Olympics and afterwards the site was cited as an official tourist
destination, appearing as such in official literature, therefore somewhat securing its
standing and survival. However this came with a price “due to its international reputation
and the rising policy interest in cultural industries, [...] led to a rapid spate of
commercialization, and by the time of the 2008 Olympics, 798 Factory had completed its
short lifecycle as a bohemian artist colony and become a cluster of international galleries
44 Currier, 24745 Currier, 244-24946 Currier, 24547 Currier, 246
and boutique shops catering mostly for tourists”48. Thus ending it's “authentic” stage.
In this sense 798 is and remains representative, both spatially but also politically. Its growth
has mirrored China's relationship to art and cultural industries, real estate and politics. Born
from deindustrialisation, immigration and the shift from strong centralized government to a
more loosely and locally regulated one (as seen by the 2006 the Chaoyang district
government decision to designated the 798 Factory as an official cultural business zone), it
symbolizes China's attempt to move into a post industrial economy, one based on service
economy and fed by a desire to brand Beijing as an international capital. Even the space
itself is “post industrial” and its political embrace should be though of in this very literal
sense.
Originally though of as dangerous, weird or unorthodox it is now being embraced as part of
wider process of cultural policy (both locally and nationally), which tries to mimic and
western culture led regeneration, but with a Chinese twist. The twist being that on the one
hand the local government has embraced the area, with one official claiming “‘Beijing is an
ancient cultural centre, a famous cultural city, and 798 is carrying on the old culture and
developing it into a contemporary one’”49. On the other hand, and here is the twist, with
this embrace there comes not only rise in prices but also loss of control. Through what Ren
& Sun [2011] call “distirfication” the local state “has extended its creative control to the
formerly under-regulated artist villages on the periphery”50.
Distrification is a new model of control where through “interlocking directorates, [...] the
state appoints the same government officials across the executive boards of multiple key
governing bodies in art districts”51 thus creating centralized control in a semi “open”
political structure. This process signifies a “new cultural turn in urban development in
China, which had previously followed the model of urban renewal, demolition and
displacement”, and this shift parallels both the move to local government and the embrace
of cultural led regeneration. However in the Chinese context this is conceptualized as
‘artistic urbanization’ and not regeneration, where “rural villages inhabited by artists
quickly urbanize in the midst of art-led development promoted and monitored by the state”.
This process according to Ren & Sun always takes place on the urban / rural border and is
therefore a “spatial strategy for the local state to reconstitute its control over cultural
production and to profit from land leasing and real estate development”52 in the midst of an
inevitable process of urbanization. So what had historically been in the fringe of the city is
48 Ren & Sun, 7-849 Currier, 24750 Ren & Sun, 251 Ren & Sun, 252 Ren & Sun, 1-3
now deeply situated in the city, and hence under its control.
Mediatheque, HOLON, ISRAEL
As it's brochure clearly states the “Holon Mediatheque is an all-encompassing cultural hub
for Holon residents, as well as the urban center of Israel”. The “hub” (sometimes spelled
Mediatek) formally includes a repertory theater, The Mediatheque Theater (founded in
2004); a book, media and material library, The Mediatheque Public Library (also from
2004); a cinematheque, The Holon Cinematheque (founded in 2008); and two museums,
The Israeli Cartoon Museum (founded in 2007) and (the world renowned) Design Museum
Holon, designed by world famous architecture Ron Arad (founded in 2010). Though some
of these institutes were founded independently from one another, with the founding of the
Design Museum, all of these institutes were administratively merged with each retaining
artistic and some budgetary autonomy53, this move led to a few internal cooperation, such
as the addition of “iMaterials”, the Design Museum's material library aimed at inspiring
designers and cultivating industrial design projects in the city, to the Mediatheque Public
Library, located not within the design museum but in the main Mediatheque building.
Informally the Mediatheque is connected to a few other cultural institutes around the city,
for example the newly founded Holon Center for Digital Arts or The Holon Children
Museum and a number of festivals such as The International Puppet Theatre Festival.
Geographically it is situated near other establishments; the local Pais community center to
the south west, the Holon Institute of Technology (HIT) college to the west, the new Holon
shopping mall to the north as well as new high end building projects (from the late 90s) to
the east. In light of a desire to strengthen the Mediatheque as a center, during interviews I
conducted in the Mediatheque, I was repeatedly told that within a few years the
municipality itself would change location and move to a plot across the street from the
Mediatheque to a plot of land between the HIT and the Mediatheque parking lot54.
53 Interview 7/7/21254 Interview 7/7/212
The Mediatheque, the name for the formal area comprised of theatre, cinematheque, library
and museums, was founded in 2004 as part of the “educational and cultural rejuvenation
program that has been running for the past 16 years under the direction of the city’s mayor,
Motti Sasson, and the municipality’s managing director Hana Hertsman”. This
“rejuvenation” is part of a major change in the city the Mayor, Motti Sasson, has been
implementing. It first started in 1993, with his election, as a process of internal learning,
specifically a type of personal “soul searching” for the mayor and the municipality’s
managing director Hana Hertsman so as to “define exactly what we [Mayor Motti Sasson
and Director General Hana Hertsman] wanted to achieve, we had to formulate a vision for
the city – a vision that would come to serve as a founding document and road map from
which the organizational structure of the municipality, and later on the actions required in
each and every one of the municipality departments, would be derived”55.
This was done with the help of consultant firms and external think tanks, which through a
personal “coaching”56 process helped the Mayor and Director General understand their
respective goals, define their job description and put into words their vision for the city. In
1995 Hertsman offered her vision for the municipality and this document led the mayor to
carry out a political reorganization of both staff, and political and administrative structure
of the municipality. The new political and administrative structure was derived from the
advice the municipality received from Dr. Gidon Tchatiat, a senior consultant for Bank
Leumi, and its focus was strengthening the relations between Hertsman and Sasson's
55 Pasher & Aviv-Tal & Shikler & Tirosh, 1056 Dr. Haya Ramon functioned as Hana Hertsman's coach. (Pasher & Aviv-Tal & Shikler & Tirosh, 11)
offices, while strengthening the powers of the Director General's Office and getting rid of
old political appointees and portfolio holders so as to bring in “professionals” to head each
municipal department.57
In addition the municipality founded a few daughter companies or subsidiaries who would
be more free to act, specifically in the field of culture. So while education remained in-
house, much of the Municipality’s operations moved to “small and efficient independent
subsidiaries (such as recreation and entertainment company, the theater, music, art and
dance development company, the economic corporation, etc.), which have a business-
oriented outlook”. This “professional” and “business-oriented outlook” was implemented
in all fields and position holders within the municipality as well as through semi privatized
subsidiaries. These process “generated a very significant change in the way the
Municipality operates. [It] freed the people engaged in many areas of activity from their
dependency on the municipal bureaucracy, and facilitated greater flexibility in ongoing
operations”58.
Most importantly the city underwent a massive rebranding campaign focusing on education
and the quality of life of “children”, so as to attract young middle class families while not
losing its own young families who have historically left the city for Tel Aviv or Rishon
LeZion both because of the city's image but also because employment. Therefore beside
focusing on education and implementing reforms in the field, there was also a specific
57 Pasher & Aviv-Tal & Shikler & Tirosh, 12-1458 Pasher & Aviv-Tal & Shikler & Tirosh, 14
attention to culture, not just for youth, but also for parents and the community at large, in
an active attempt to cultivate both artistic endeavors and the so called economy that comes
along with it. Correlatively there were shifts in planning and building policy as well as shift
in economical aims with the end goal of establishing “an innovative industrial zone with
modern hi-tech and industrial plants [so as to] generate the required revolution in the city’s
commerce”59.
The Mediatheque's openly stated goal is “to provide a unique environment, in which its
audience can experience a wide range of cultural activities”. These cultural process are
suppose to supplement Holon's municipalities' branding of Holon as the “Children's City”
where the “expanding [of] cultural activities [is done] in a way that influences young
people’s cultural consumption and environment”, and culture for children was defined as
culture from the age of 1 month to 24 years old. Therefore it seems Holon aim is double;
first to cater to the cultural needs of its local community and secondly shift it's economy
and its branding to a more culturally led or oriented one. This led to a plenum of cultural
events, festivals and establishments, both within the Mediatheque and around it.
In light of the fact that this is a municipally led process the Mediatheque has benefited and
grown from municipal funding of around 120 million NIS60 with its function being both the
cultural services it offers and its ability to function as a cultural center for external cultural
events and to supplement the branding and renewal process the city is undergoing. More
so, as branding the city was one of the major motivations for this project, big names were
brought on, for example The Mediatheque building was designed by B. Baruch and Y.
Salamon Architects, and the Design Museum by Ron Arad. In the words of a Mediatheque
worker: “we are try to be very quality oriented, but also cool. Mostly we try to be cool”61.
COMAPRISON
First we should begin with the similarities between these two cultural industry spaces or
hubs. Firstly we can see that these are indeed two hubs whose content fits well into the
category of cultural industries. Secondly we see that these process do fall into a bigger
picture of municipal or government sanctioned embrace of such industries, for a plenum of
reasons, including economical, urban and social. However the story of this embrace differs
widely between the two hubs and hence presents two different narratives for cultural led
development.
In 798 we see first an organic process, were cheap rent attracted artist, which led to organic
59 Pasher & Aviv-Tal & Shikler & Tirosh, 1460 Pasher & Aviv-Tal & Shikler & Tirosh, 4761 Interview 7/7/212
growth in art related cultural industries that catered to these artists and their art. This, in
turn, created an “organic” scene. This scene and its industries were “embraced” only after
their local and international success. More so, originally the local and national government
fought against and hindered 798's growth. In Holon we see a reverse model, where the
local government actively created and synthetically tried (and is still trying) to promote a
scene through the fostering of cultural industries. Not only that, even though this is a
municipally led process, since day one all of the institutions had complete cultural
autonomy, even though their funding is municipal. So if in 798 the organic process is now
being embraced (or even chocked) by local government (through districification and its
influence), in both content and form, in Holon this relation is and always was free, in terms
of content but not physical development as the Mediatheque is situated well within a
planned policy and it's implementation.
In my opinion these two different “narratives” stem from the organic vs synthetic growth of
these two hubs. In Holon the Mediatheque was founded according to municipal goals,
while in China the growth was organic and mostly artistic, therefore the local government
“needed” to control and influence 798 (through what we have called distirfication) so as to
harness it for its goals and needs.
A second major difference is in content. While 798 originally focused on art as a solely
creative process, the Mediatheque was originally destined for wider cultural industries. In
Holon, maybe specifically because this was a pre-planed move and development with clear
cut branding, economical and social goals, the aim was to create a scene and cultural led
regeneration in the widest sense and not foster local art. Put more simply in Holon there is
cultural industries in a cultural sense where in China there is a cultural industry as a by
product that grew from art itself. In China these industries grew organically and their
(mostly) economical benefits were late to arrive on the scene. More so the official
endorsement of 798 came in an after-the-fact manner which attempted to harness the
organic growth to political and economical goals.
This difference in content stems not only from the different narratives but also as a direct
result of the political relation to the establishment of these spaces and their artistic content.
Because Holon's Mediatheque was born out of policy, it's content is cultural industry and
therefore poses no political problem (let alone the fact the compared to China Israel's art is
quite uncensored), while in China because the space's content is purely and originally
artistic, the (political) need to develop it to economically lucrative cultural industries is in
constant tension with the space's original and organic life.
These differences stem from and have influences on other important differences regarding
these two spaces, specifically in terms of location and physical development, but also in
regards to their benefits. While both are not located within the city center the identify of
their location tells an interesting story and is deeply connected to the characteristics of the
different structures. 798 is located in what was historically a rural suburb of the city but is
now part of a new business and embassy district (see figure 2). In this sense it's roots as an
industrial factory symbolizes China's shift from a rural and agriculturally based society to a
modern industrialized one; its current location symbolize the shift to a service and post
industrial economy through a process of urbanization.
This shift is manifest in the most basic fact that 798 historically developed within a process
of urbanization, where rural areas turned urban through the organic growth and expansion
of the city. In 798's case the city has truly grown around it even though it was historically
suburban and rural. In this sense the fact that it was “adopted” by the local government
stems from an almost sovereignty related issues created in urbanization; where with the
growth and expansion of city to new areas the different growing districts need to base their
jurisdiction on what historically was not part of the city. Holon on the other hand is not a
physically growing city, or at least its growth is not a geographical expansion of
urbanization to historically rural areas. Rather Holon is try to rejuvenate or rebuild what it
already has, to fix and rebrand its current given space.
This invites an interesting comparison of the structures themselves, where 798 is a historic
building that was reborn as an art district through authentic rethinking of the what a can be
done with a factory; in Holon these are all new building, planned and built specifically for
the Mediatheque and its needs within an already urban setting. This is interesting as in
China the process is of growth and expansion into new territory while the structures are not
new but rather historical, while in Holon the space and area is “old” but the structures are
new.
This is interesting in terms of the structures themselves, where in Holon, maybe because
the area is not “new” but only “rejuvenated”, the buildings themselves are very modern;
specifically we can cite the Design Museum, whose structure was conceived by a world
famous architect specifically to hold the Design Museum and to prove the power of design
on the user experience (it is a circular structure whose form guides the visitors movement
and experience of the changing exhibition, see logo). More so this new building and its
architectural importance is according to many interviewees the single most important factor
in the Mediatheque's success62. On the other hand in urbanizing China, 798 is “new in
town” but historical in character- the building is not new. Its unique and authentic character
stems from this historic significance and character of the structure. In this sense the old city
wants new buildings while the new city wants old one, and the new buildings represent
rebirth within a given space, while the new city represents reusing older elements through
an embracing process of urbanization. In this sense they are representative of the difference
between artistic urbanization (cite) and cultural led (urban) regeneration, where Holon is
destroying and rebuilding and China is expanding and rebranding. Both have a similar end
game in regards to reaping the benefits of cultural industries but the ontology and praxis
are different.
These differences hint at other differences as well, specifically in terms of the true
narratives of these places and their true goals. At face value, both places want to enjoy the
benefits of a cultural led economy of the creative class in post industrial society. This type
of economy moves between the local and international, both in terms of identity and
economical function63. Identity wise, 798 for example, is (or at-least was) on the one hand
the center of the local contemporary Chinese art scene, and on the other hand both this art,
its value, and discourse are international. Economically there is a need for both the organic
growth of local artist and their voice, and also for their art, to have international importance
so as to raise it's value and attract foreign investors, press and interest. However there is a
difference in their relation to the international and this difference is related to their real
goals and aims.
In the branding of these two areas this difference is obvious. 798's commodification and
maturing to an important economical and branding power stemmed first from its organic
and authentic nature and the international interest it generated. Only afterwards was this
international interest in this character harnessed for its international and economical power,
and its main goal today is external and international, i.e tourism, and less the fostering and
valuating of the art scene. On the other Holon with its synthetic, new and subsidies
character is aimed mostly internally. It uses it's international aspect (via it's French oriented
name and important structures) to valuate the local audience experience, create and enrich
the “community art space” it created. Of course this process is economically motivated but
it its audience is local and national; it's openly stated goal is to create a community and
social experiences so as to serve the local community and their city.
So while both brand themselves international, 798 is (now) geared outwards to the world
62 Interview 7/7/21263 Moltoch, 517
while Holon uses this aspect to draw local people in and enrich their experience, and the
international aspect in both their branding is extremely representative in this respect. More
so, in Holon, the hub's ability to foster community life via the creation of social spaces, and
economical growth via a “scene”, were both originally found in the structure's policy
background, but in China they were secondary to the artistic growth and needed, at least in
the opinion of local government, to be politically (and some what aggressively) harnessed.
This difference in goals and experience leads to our final comparison, which I call
methodological and political. In the research for this paper I faced a methodological
problem, all of my information regarding 798 was from international academic scholarly
work and the internet, while information regarding the Mediatheque was reached by
physically going to the place, experiencing its structure and interviewing middle
management employees. This on the ground research was supplemented with official
literature (brochures and such) and local scholarly work. Firstly this posed a problem in the
sense that my experience of 798 was purely textual while the Mediatheque was more
physical. However this “problem” actually highlighted an important political difference
between them.
Through my reading and experience of the Mediatheque the aspect of privatization was
obvious at both a methodological and political / economical level. The Mediatheque's
founding was done through the local government but was in fact implemented and born
from a process and rational of privatization. Remember the subsidiaries founded so as to
lead such processes and the “business oriented” thinking. More so think of how the history
of the Mediatheque is presented as a resulting from a personal process of specific agents
within the municipality and its semi privatized subsidiaries. Methodologically it is
presented as a result of a personal process of the head of the Director General Office, Ms.
Hertsman, her “coaching”, and the help of external business minded advisors.
On the other hand 798 is a story of semi nationalization in the face of private enterprise.
Methodologically it is presented as a movement of artist into the creation of 798 as a solid
unit which was later embraced not by specific government agents but rather “the local
government”, again, as a solid unit. The original unit itself did stem from the actions of
personal agents (remember Sui the sculptor who first discovered the space, and Lui, the
political activist that helped secure budgets for cultural industries and 798) and from a
wider movement of many different artist stemming from their personal needs. So we have
on the one hand personal government officials actively creating and working with
collective semi privatized untis (Mediatheque) and on the other hand we have personal
movements that create a wider unit which in turn is swallowed through nationalization by a
local political unit.
In this sense we have two narratives of government control and urban development policy.
In Holon, though the Mediatheque is born out of a supposedly centralized policy it is
presented as a result of personal and private(ized) processes within the political policy. 798
on the other hand is presented as an organic and personal process which has become
centralized after nationalization (via districitifcation). In Holon the privatization is policy
and in it's service, while in China the private must be harnessed to political goals.
Conversely Holon's goals are local while China's are international. So while Holon speaks
the language of nee-liberal economy it does so with local and somewhat “social” goals in
mind, while China, speaking in centralized and nationalized language aims at neo liberal
and economically geared results.
CONCLUSION
In my comparison I hope to show two stories or narratives of culturally led urban policy,
one of cultural led urban regeneration and the second of artistic led urbanization, and in
some way shed light on the political and social cultures of the two countries or at least
cities. In the Chinese case it is obvious that the polity sees and aims to mostly economical
and branding benefits of such processes, and that this positions is part of or, a reaction to, a
process of urbanization; while in Holon we see a classic example of municipally
aggregated culturally led urban regeneration with the aim of fostering local life and
creating a culturally based community experience and branding. I have tried not to judge
either cities but rather only point to the culture of culturally led urban policy. In this sense I
have tried to locate its reason not in political ideology but in contingent reality pertaining to
the specific history of both these spaces, their structures and locations.
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