The social impact of art-led inititatives on the neigborhood regeneration

Beethoven 3 Abstract The main purpose of this study is to investigate the social impacts on art-led initiatives on neighborhood regeneration. This study aims at testing how art-led initiatives work at neighborhood level since most studies have been performed at city level. The neighborhood of Oude Westen has been selected for the case study analysis because it is one of the most unsafe and multi ethnic neighborhoods in Rotterdam, being struck by many social problems but where art-led initiatives have been perform in order to generate social improvements. To test the social impact of art-led initiatives on neighborhood regeneration, a theoretical framework has been elaborated consisting of two parts, the causes and the effects of the social impacts. The causes of the social impacts are represented by the art sector and its main products, art-led initiatives, whereas the effects of the social impacts are measured by participation and seven social indicators like: social inclusion, personal development, social cohesion, security, health, image and well-being. Data needed in performing the research is gathered through interviews with local artists and policy makers which cover the social impacts causes and questionnaires spread among inhabitants of Oude Westen which cover the social impacts effects. The cause of social impact consist of the art-led initiatives designed by artists and policy makers according to the social index and the interviews performed among inhabitants having casual and familiar themes to stimulate inhabitants more to participate. Being creative and able to express themselves are two of the Oude Westen inhabitants strong points whereas the population diversity and the short-term effect of arts are the main threats. The barriers in succeeding with art-led initiatives in Oude Westen are related to funding, vandalism, communication between local actors and the short term life span of arts. The expected social impacts were in terms of safety, social cohesion, image, health and well-being but also participation in arts. The effect of social impact measured in terms of social inclusion is considerable as the majority of the questioned inhabitants, except for Dutch ethnicity, feel more appreciated after participating in arts. In terms of personal development, the social impact of arts is major when considering skills and creativity development, however the social impact is not considerable here when referring to participation in workshops, training courses and group activities. The social impact in terms of social cohesion is considerable as the majority agrees that participating in arts can help make new friends and learn about other people’ culture. In terms of security the social impact was evident for majority except for: Eastern Europeans and inhabitants aged between 24 and 40 when referred to arts capacity to reduce crime; Dutch and Asian ethnicities and inhabitants older than 40 and aged between 18 and 24 when referred to safety feeling; Dutch and Asian ethnicities and inhabitants older than 40 when referred to confidence level. In terms of health the social impact is considerable since participation in art-led initiatives makes the majority feel better or healthier. The social impact in terms of image is major since most participants consider that art improves the image of their neighborhood being, except for Eastern Europeans, very proud of their neighborhood. Participation in art-led initiatives makes the majority feel happier generating a major social impact. Overall, the social impacts of art-led initiatives at neighborhood level are more considerable than at city level. But in Oude Westen participation in art-led initiatives is the most evident problem and improvements needs to be made in this sense.