The new creative districts of the city of Buenos Aires: the conversion of La Boca neighborhood in the Í€œArt DistrictÍ€

Abstract

The segmentation of the city of Buenos Aires in several Í€œcreativeÍ€ districts is an innovation introduced by the government administrating the city since 2008. That segmentation is inspired by the creative city model proposed by Florida (2002, 2005) and is based on a particular way of public intervention in which the state acts as a market facilitator, providing economic benefits to the investors interested in settling in the new district. The institutionalization of such policy -inspired by the liberal urbanism- generated neighborÁs demonstrations in the affected areas. In 2012 the Art District was created in La Boca neighborhood. It seems relevant to explore such intervention taking into account the neighbors` positions, as the ethnographic work developed indicates that this situation weakens several rights contained in the World Charter for the Right to the City, referred hereby for the analysis carried out.