A group of people and collectives from L’Hospitalet want to promote a meeting space in the city, from the citizens, where we can share concerns and experiences, as well as a debate process that allows us to think together about culture in L’Hospitalet. We are interested in debating and analyzing the city’s cultural policies and thinking about how we can understand the links between creative processes, culture, and the economy with the territory.
In recent months, the L’Hospitalet City Council has presented its project for the creation of a new Cultural District based on stimulating the so-called creative industries, which are identified as the future economic engine of the city.
Projects like this have been implemented in many other cities, sometimes with negative consequences that, we believe, must be paid attention to and questioned: How do cultural districts relate to the cultural and social dynamics of the territories themselves? What relationship can they have with gentrification and real estate speculation? How does it affect the territory and the people that the city is understood and managed as if it were a company that competes with other cities to attract talent and investment? What social return, beyond the strictly economic, do these districts bring to their cities? And finally, considering that entrepreneurship is the model of creative industry that is usually promoted, how does the promotion of creative entrepreneurship affect the working conditions of cultural producers?
These are some questions with which we want to start this debate open to everyone: We propose to hold a first meeting on Friday, February 13 at 7:00 p.m. at the Espacio Salamina, at
c/ Salamina, 37-41, Santa Eulàlia (L’Hospitalet)
; the format would be that of a discussion group with a couple of interventions—from
Rubén Martínez
, member of the
Metropolitan Observatory of Barcelona
and Montse Santolino, journalist and resident of the Florida neighborhood—that can help us promote the debate. We will also share some documents that we believe may be useful and we invite you to share others that you think may be of interest.
We are waiting for you! Invite the people and groups that you think may be interested. And if you want, we can meet beforehand to talk. Oh… and if you can, confirm attendance. Thanks!