Matjaž Uršič, Primož Medved
Full paper paper published in Slovene language, in a peer reviewed journal DRUŽBOSLOVNE RAZPRAVE, XXXV (2019), 92: 53–79 53
ABSTRACT
Analysis of social networks in areas undergoing intense urban transformations are
becoming an ever more important topic in spatial planning. The growing attention
given to social networks is due to the rise of problems and conflicts stemming
from disregard of the ‘soft’, i.e. social, components in the local environment. The
problem of stakeholders’ participation and empowerment in spatial planning is,
in fact, one of ignoring or not recognising the importance of the social networks
that exist between actors in space. The article analyses the roles and meanings of
social networks with respect to the development of certain types of socio-economic
activities in former industrial areas. Using data collected from semi-structured interviews
in the area of former Tobacco Factory in Ljubljana, it analyses the types,
intensity and expansion of social networks.
SUMMARY
With the transition to a new political and economic system, significant transformation
of spatial planning has occurred in Slovenia. This resulted in the formation
of non-consolidated institutional structures and competitive urban policies, which
were supposed to stimulate rapid economic development. Simultaneously with
economic development some major deficiencies in the coordination of spatial
development have emerged. In larger Slovenian cities, due to various reasons
(restructuring of the economy, introduce of new ownership conditions, denationalization,
etc.), a great number of obsolete abandoned industrial urban area
sprung up. The transformation of such sites involved different types of users,
ranging from formal users (official tenants) to informal (squatter) forms of use. The
majority of users were perceived by the owners or urban managers as a transient
form of space use. In this regard the users have been assigned a ‚temporary
role‘ while the bases for intensive physical renovation and long-term commodification
of these premises were still in preparation. Despite this initially temporary
role, the locations of deprived industrial areas developed interesting services or
programs that exceed their temporality and became and important addition to
the socio-economic functions of cities. The article in this regard addresses the
issue of temporary use of former industrial sites, which include the beneficial
development of complex social networks, which support unique functions and
programs not present in other urban areas.
Past analyses of former industrial sites in Slovenian cities have focused mainly
on the physical changes and direct economic effects of renewal of brownfields,
while much less attention has been paid to the analysis and importance of social
networks that have in the meantime developed on the locations. In our research we
tried to analyse some of these missing elements and present how social networks
affect spatial development of an area, and vice versa. The article is an attempt
to ‚evaluate‘ the importance of social networks for the development of economic
and especially creative activities in cities. In doing so, the article emphasizes the
great importance and need to maintain social networks as a prerequisite for the
establishment and development of creative activities in former industrial areas
undergoing physical renewal. Emphasizing the development of creative industries
is a common mantra of urban economic policies that seek to diversify the local
economic base and replace jobs lost through the restructuring of the traditional
industrial and service sectors. To implement these programs they often resort
to locations of former traditional industrial and service areas. At this point it is
important to mention that the application of creative urban development policies
often results in a lack of adequate attention and insufficient integration of ‚soft‘
social elements that have in the meantime accumulated in the selected areas.
The article aims to show the inseparability of the processes of social network
development and economic (creative) activities on the basis of data accumulated
within the project „Urban Live Education“ (UEL 2019). The key purpose of the
article is therefore to highlight the extreme importance of social networks in the
context of renewal of brownfields and especially in the case of the former Tobacco
Factory in Ljubljana. It is an attempt to point to existing urban development
patterns that all too often perceive social elements in brownfields as a relatively
insignificant part of local economies and an acceptable part of potential collateral
damage during the renewal processes. To analyse the case of Tobacco factory
we relied on the social mapping research model, which is understood as a way
of identifying and linking social interactions with particular user’s spaces. The
application of social mapping helped to reflect, increase awareness of specific
socio-spatial contexts where potential conflicts, negotiations, misunderstandings,
power and responsibility relationships arise.
The results of the analysis indicate to the existence of strong social networks
that gradually formed in the period after the closure of production line in the
Tobacco factory. According to the analysed data, strong formal and informal
networks were established and represented a prerequisite for the formation of
certain economic activities. In the case of creative activities, a series of researchers
(see for example Jacobs 1969; Howkins 2001; Florida 2002, 2005; Bell,
Jayne 2004; Fleming 2011) point to the extreme importance of the coexistence
of both (formal and informal) networks, while the absence of either one of them
represents a great obstacle i.e. greatly limits the growth of the creative ecosystem.
The current presence of social networks on the location of Tobačna is the cornerstone
of innovation and basis for further, longer-term clustering of businesses
in the wider Ljubljana area. Only a local environment that blends different types
of networks and tolerates high heterogeneity while combining work, leisure and
social life fosters creativity that is characteristic for creative neighbourhoods and
clusters of businesses that benefit the wider urban area.