Artist-led Spatial Production in the City: East Street Arts as Urban Activator

This thesis investigates the potential of artist-led space to be an urban activator in response to the social, political, and economic challenges faced by urban environments in England in the 2020s. These challenges include the continuing rise in property development such as commercial investment, which generates low-quality, high density urban spaces, without concern for the negative impacts of gentrification on existing occupants such as exclusion and marginalisation. This trend has been exacerbated by central government austerity policies and top-down urban regeneration strategies. My research explores the potential urban activator role of arts organisations within the context of declining state recognition of arts and humanities, the persistent labour migration triggered by economic and political instability in the UK, and the growing shortfall in financial support from Local Authorities. The term ‘urban activator’ is used in academic discourse and refers to modest, often temporary interventions in urban settings aimed at promoting responsible development, enhancing community engagement, and reinforcing communal ownership of spaces (Atelier Kempe Thill, 2009; Bishop & Williams, 2012; Haydn & Temel, 2006; Pogačar, 2014; Rosa & Weiland, 2013; Spatial Agency, n.d.f). However, the correlation between urban activators and artist-led spaces remains unexplored in scholarly literature. This research addresses this gap, proposing a nuanced definition of artist-led spaces and their role as urban activators, using East Street Arts (ESA) as a case study. ESA is a recognised not-for-profit artist-led organisation that supports artists through initiatives embedded in local communities, particularly targeting diverse, lower-income areas to mitigate aggressive gentrification and raise climate change awareness. The thesis posits artist-led spaces as catalysts for change in economically and socially declining urban contexts threatened by dense development, advocating for growth that aligns with local identities and integrates into the community fabric. The research methodology incorporates embedded techniques including participant observations, interviews, archival research, mapping, and field journaling, drawing on the works of Michel de Certeau (1984), Doreen Massey (1994, 2005), Doina Petrescu (2010; 2017), Jeanne van Heeswijk (2007), and Jane Rendell (2020; 2010b). These methods emphasise the importance of ‘research by design’ and ‘designerly ways of knowing’ (Cross, 1982; Luxemburg, 2013; Mattern, 2016), positioning them as fundamental to the production of knowledge within this field. By examining artist-led spaces as critical agents in urban dialogues and as facilitators of diverse urban activations and community participation, this research contributes to the understanding of their potential role in addressing contemporary urban challenges.