Creating places and connections: A review of Arte-Polis 4

Spaces and places frame life; furthermore, the ways we use these spaces and places are framed by the ways we talk about them: scientifically, aesthetically, morally, politically, economically, etc. When the stories we tell, and are being told, about our cities gain a sense of inevitability they become oppressing. There always are – and should be – alternative points of view. The last decade or so, the dominant theme has been creativity: the creative city, creative economy or industry and the creative class.

Researcher and consultant Richard Florida has done much to popularize the concept of the creative class, and Charles Landry for the concept of the creative city. And theirs is a global appeal; Arte-Polis 1 was organized in 2006 by the Department of Architecture, and in 2008, the School of Architecture, Planning and Policy Development (SAPD/SAPPK) at the Institute of Technology Bandung (ITB), Indonesia, took over the organization of the biannual conferences.

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