Abstract

Innovative Public Space Rehabilitation Models to Create Cognitive- -Cultural Urban Economy in the Age of Mass Individualisation. Case of Mouraria, Lisbon. This paper deals with the issue of sustainable urban rehabilitation interventions in city cores focused on value creation through culture-led development as a tool for building a cognitive city. The objective is to analyze cases of rehabilitation of public space by culture-led interventions implemented in co-operation with communities and social organizations, indicating a new citizenship model where communities are a part of a creative urban governance. In the current socioeconomic situation cities face the challenge of adaptation to changing demands on the space quality and services provision in connection to cultural trends influencing the expectations of society. It is vital to acknowledge that community constitutes the cognitive network which fuels the innovative transformation of urban space adapted to their particular needs. Therefore it is particularly important to identify and describe culturally and socially innovative models of urban rehabilitation processes which will modify the face of the future city and to analyze them in light of the mass individualization paradigm. Case study analysis presented in the paper, neighborhood of Mouraria in Lisbon, Portugal, constitutes a part of an ongoing research and is an example of a culture-led urban rehabilitation strategy. Study describes the culture-led public space rehabilitation along with community identity strengthening applied in the process of urban rehabilitation of the neighborhood. The analysis serves the goal of investigating creative possibilities existing within active citizen networks which may serve as ‘open source’ databases, facilitating innovative change in the urban environment. The main aim is to analyze the place image enhancement and engagement of community networks as well as their influence on the shape and functioning of public space.

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