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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