Les territoires créatifs : quelques notions théoriques et une analyse bruxelloise

Abstract

For over twenty years, artists and cultural activities have been studied in scientific literature, notably in geography. Because of artists' long-established link with cities and the more recent inclusion of artistic activities into urban development policies, these themes can be conceived of as original keys to apprehend contemporary urban dynamics. A variety of concepts have been formalised to describe the spatial distribution of artists, arts institutions or cultural industries in cities. In this paper, I examine the terms used to characterize these spatial distributions, and consider three underlying issues. Then I propose a typology of creative spaces, based on the dimensions of artistic activity (production, creation, consumption) and their character of « spontaneous » or « planned » developments. Observing how artists and cultural infrastructures are located in Brussels allows us to question empirically the concentration of artistic activity in this particular city. This empirical attempt opens up new research prospects regarding the formation of creative spaces and their role in contemporary dynamics of urban change in Brussels.

Keywords

• creative space
• artist
• cultural infrastructure
• Brussels