{"title":"The Role of Art in the Revitalisation of Brownfield Sites—The Case of Nantes","authors":"Iwona Szustakiewicz","doi":"10.3390/arts14040097","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"The article examines the role of art in the successful revitalisation of brownfield sites in Nantes. The city’s deindustrialization in the 1960s–80s caused a severe economic and social crisis. Significant areas were left behind by the abandoned factories, which were rapidly degrading, negatively affecting the entire city. Many of these were located on a river island in the city centre. Since the early 1990s, the Nantes authorities initiated a process of revitalising brownfield sites. They implemented several culture-led regeneration strategies. Nantes opened up to temporary events: street theatre shows and art festivals. The flagship project and symbol of renewal became Les Machines de Île, mobile, interactive machines that took over the previously degraded island and hark back to its industrial past. Site-specific art installations filled the city. The municipal authorities also started to implement the concept of a creative cluster, concentrating art colleges, cultural facilities, and creativity-related businesses on former wasteland. The use of a variety of strategies brought success, and the results went beyond the revitalised area. Cultural activities became an accelerator of change and contributed to the regeneration process of the city.","PeriodicalId":30547,"journal":{"name":"Arts","volume":"24 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.3000,"publicationDate":"2025-08-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Arts","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.3390/arts14040097","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"0","JCRName":"HUMANITIES, MULTIDISCIPLINARY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
The article examines the role of art in the successful revitalisation of brownfield sites in Nantes. The city’s deindustrialization in the 1960s–80s caused a severe economic and social crisis. Significant areas were left behind by the abandoned factories, which were rapidly degrading, negatively affecting the entire city. Many of these were located on a river island in the city centre. Since the early 1990s, the Nantes authorities initiated a process of revitalising brownfield sites. They implemented several culture-led regeneration strategies. Nantes opened up to temporary events: street theatre shows and art festivals. The flagship project and symbol of renewal became Les Machines de Île, mobile, interactive machines that took over the previously degraded island and hark back to its industrial past. Site-specific art installations filled the city. The municipal authorities also started to implement the concept of a creative cluster, concentrating art colleges, cultural facilities, and creativity-related businesses on former wasteland. The use of a variety of strategies brought success, and the results went beyond the revitalised area. Cultural activities became an accelerator of change and contributed to the regeneration process of the city.
本文探讨了艺术在南特棕地成功复兴中的作用。这座城市在20世纪60年代至80年代的去工业化造成了严重的经济和社会危机。废弃的工厂留下了大片地区,这些工厂正在迅速退化,对整个城市产生了负面影响。其中许多都位于市中心的一个河岛上。自20世纪90年代初以来,南特当局启动了振兴棕地的进程。他们实施了几项以文化为主导的再生战略。南特开始举办临时活动:街头戏剧表演和艺术节。旗舰项目和更新的象征是Les Machines de Île,这是一种移动、互动的机器,接管了以前退化的岛屿,并回到了它的工业历史。城市里到处都是特定地点的艺术装置。市政府也开始实施创意集群的概念,将艺术学院、文化设施、创意相关企业集中在原来的荒地上。各种策略的使用带来了成功,结果超出了振兴地区。文化活动成为变化的加速器,促进了城市的再生过程。