Urban Regeneration: From the Arts `Feel Good' Factor to the Cultural Economy: A Case Study of Hoxton, London

Abstract

This paper seeks to examine critically the role of culture in the continued development, or regeneration, of `post-industrial' cities. First, it is critical of instrumental conceptions of culture with regard to urban regeneration. Secondly, it is critical of the adequacy of the conceptual framework of the `post-industrial city' (and the `service sector') as a basis for the understanding and explanation of the rise of cultural industries in cities. The paper is based upon a case study of the transformation of a classic, and in policy debates a seminal, `cultural quarter': Hoxton Square, North London. Hoxton, and many areas like it, are commonly presented as derelict parts of cities which many claim have, through a magical injection of culture, been transformed into dynamic destinations. The paper suggests a more complex and multifaceted causality based upon a robust concept of the cultural industries as industry rather than as consumption.