IJUP08 - Universidade do Porto

The knowledge-based economy as a hegemonic meta-object of
urban centre renewal policies: the case of Porto
Abstract:
J. Queirós 1 and V. Rodrigues 2
1 Institute of Sociology, Faculty of Arts, University of Porto, Portugal.
2 Institute of Sociology, Faculty of Arts, University of Porto, Portugal.
Inherently cultural, cities have always been, throughout History, privileged spaces of
knowledge, creativeness, innovation and artistic effervescence. In the last few decades,
following the profound economic, social and political transformations that have been
characterizing cities, urban culture – considered here in its broadest sense – has gained
renewed importance, especially in developed countries, as a central element in interurban
competition.
Relying on the economic convertibility of symbolic capital, contemporary urban policies
choose knowledge and culture as two of their most important touchstones. The main goal is
to assure the abovementioned conversion, by attracting new residents and tourists –
especially the more affluent ones – and by reinforcing the urban centres’ attractiveness
towards all kinds of investment fluxes.
The complex strategies and discourses of urban centre renewal policies – and the way they
increasingly mobilise the knowledge-based economy as their meta-object – is what we wish
to explore with this paper. Focusing on the case of Porto, and having in mind the
theoretical assessments of cultural political economy, we analyse the major guidelines of
dominant tendencies in urban planning and management and reflect on the role of
knowledge and culture in local urban centre renewal policies.
By doing this, we will try to analyse how the international trend that takes the knowledgebased
economy as a hegemonic meta-object of urban centre renewal policies is locally
being reproduced.
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