Cultural clusters and social interaction dynamics: The case of Barcelona

Abstract

Analysing the territorial dynamics of culture, particularly its tendency to form clusters, has become a study area that draws the attention of various social science disciplines. It has grown steadily in importance over the last 20 years alongside the increasing interest in creative industries and cultural institutions as factors in socio-economic development and urban regeneration. Most of today’s literature on the subject takes cultural clusters as a single type and focuses on aspects linked to their urban planning or economic impact. However, there is a growing awareness of the importance of the social dimension of cultural clusters. This paper aims to differentiate between various cultural clusters in the city of Barcelona by constructing models or types of cluster, taking into account the predominant interaction dynamics and the type of social ties generated between the cultural agents participating in these groupings. Following these criteria we distinguish three types of cultural cluster according to whether a bureaucratic, associative or community dynamic predominates. These social dynamics enable us to understand the success or failure of a cluster policy.