Publication – Urban entrepreneurship through art-based interventions: unveiling a translation process

Article co-écrit par Natalia Bobadilla (Université de Rouen), Marie Göransson (ULB) et François Pichault (HEC Liège) paru dans

This paper explores the conditions under which urban entrepreneurship can develop through art-based interventions. Drawing on two contrasting case studies (Civic City in France, Fieris Fééries in Belgium) and taking actor-network theory (ANT) as a starting analytical point, the authors outline the tensions involved in the implementation process of such interventions. They focus on the capacity of urban entrepreneurs to engage different relevant stakeholders (artists, local government and citizens), establish connections between disconnected worlds that are likely to challenge existing institutional structures and eventually create novelty. They identify these actors as ‘translators’. The paper shows that when urban entrepreneurs play an active translation role consistently over time, art-based interventions can have a substantial impact on urban regeneration.