'The role of arts and culture in the regeneration of urban places and urban communities' - Critical Review

该项目将对目前关于艺术和文化在城市地方和社区复兴中的作用的知识基础进行批判性审查。它的主要目标是审查现有的研究范围广泛，以更好地了解艺术和文化被视为能够实现“城市再生”的无数方式，以及在寻求评估这种再生的研究中构建“文化价值”的方式。将创建一个类型学，它将结合联合收割机：-评估“再生”活动寻求创造的各种形式的文化价值（例如，“再生”是否通过干预建筑环境来实现？推动新的文化产业？增加旅游业？吸引新观众？鼓励“基层”社区活动？）审查评估这一价值所采取的方法（是否进行了受众调查？参与者采访？征求专家意见？是否创建了经济影响声明？）-对这些方法的有效性的批评（谁使用这些研究结果？他们支持什么论点？这些是强有力的吗？）因此，在批判性地评估收集证据的方法时，该项目试图研究如何参照一系列有影响力的背景因素（包括公共政策，被评估的艺术和文化活动的类型，委托研究的情况，以及开发证据的可用资源）来制定关于文化和城市再生的话语中的特定价值结构。它还旨在确定现有的优势和弱点（或差距），在目前的理解，并建议如何提高理解可能实现的方式，因此阐明了在理解“文化”在城市再生中的作用的因素更细致入微的理解。至关重要的是，这一审查过程不仅从批判性的理论和方法论角度，而且从实践者的角度来理解这一领域的干预措施。由于如此多的证据收集发生在学术界之外，因此在整个项目期间持续参与外部从业人员制作的评价和其他文件证据被认为对于全面了解这一领域至关重要，并确保该项目的调查结果在学术范围之外传播。

This project will produce a critical review of the current knowledge base concerning the role of arts and culture in the regeneration of urban places and communities. Its key objective is to review a wide range of existing research in order to better understand the myriad ways in which arts and culture are seen as capable of achieving 'urban regeneration', and the ways in which 'cultural value' is constructed in research which seeks to evaluate this regeneration. A typology will be created which will combine: - An assessment of the diverse forms of cultural value which 'regenerative' activities seek to create (is 'regeneration', for example, achieved by intervening in the built environment? Promoting new cultural businesses? Increasing tourism? Attracting new audiences? Encouraging 'grassroots' community activity?)- An examination of the methodological approaches taken in assessing this value (are audience surveys carried out? Participants interviewed? Expert opinion sought? Economic impact statements created?)- A critique of the efficacy of these approaches (who uses these research findings? What arguments do they support? Are these robust?)In critically assessing methodological approaches to evidence-gathering, this project thus seeks to examine how particular constructions of value in the discourse concerning culture and urban regeneration are formulated with reference to a range of influential contextual factors (including public policy, the type of arts and cultural activity being evaluated, the circumstances of the commissioning of research, and the available resources to develop evidence). It also aims to identify existing strengths and weaknesses (or gaps) in current understanding, and suggest ways in which improved understanding may be achieved, and so articulate a more nuanced understanding of the factors at play in understanding the role of 'culture' in urban regeneration. Crucially, this reviewing process seeks to understand interventions in this area not just from a critical theoretical and methodological perspective, but also from a practitioner viewpoint. As so much evidence gathering occurs beyond the realms of the academy, sustained engagement with evaluations and other documentary evidence produced by external practitioners throughout the project is considered to be vital to achieving a rounded understanding of this area, and also in ensuring that the findings from this project are disseminated beyond the academic context.