Cultural Industries and Urban Regeneration. Physical Renovation and Territorial Identity Creation in Zona Tortona

Abstract

The main subject of this paper is the relation between urban space and the agglomeration of economic activities tied to creativity and cultural production. The authors aim to contribute to understandings of this relation through a focus on the development of Milan as a creative city. Urban issues such as identity redefinition, district regeneration, territorial branding and urban competitiveness are in this case closely bound to the production of culture and creativity. The co-localisation of creative activities in a territory has important effects not only for the cultural industry itself, but is also a potential engine for the broader development of an urban district and potentially whole cities. Using the example of the Zona Tortona district of Milan, the paper shows how the gradual settlement of cultural economic activities has changed local space in terms of both the built environment and territorial identity. Once a post-industrial periphery, Tortona has become a recognised territorial brand and one of the most dynamic areas in the city, hosting major events such as the Furniture Fair and Fashion Week. This transformation began in the mid-1980s with the reuse of a vacant industrial site by a photography company and has continued through incremental creative settlements encouraging others to renovate ex-industrial spaces. Similar cases of private, bottom-up regeneration linked to creative activities can be found across Europe, making Zona Tortona an important case study to deepen knowledge of contemporary processes of urban change. In particular, the paper highlights the intertwined processes of built environment renovation and territorial identity creation.