In the Chinese city, culture has become a new driving force for economic development, but also a tool to exert strong control over the urban space during the last decade.
The places showing these dynamics in a very clear way are the creative clusters. At the same time, these ones are a mix of highly profitable enterprises and well-controlled and repeatable spatial formulas, starting with a few models created by the central government. The concept of creative cluster shows how the transformation of former industrial areas plays a bigger role than the mere preservation and revitalization of their physical heritage. The creative clusters represent a powerful tool to ensure the valorization of real estate, places representing a promotional and political idea of heritage, labs for real innovation of spatial and functional models, and fenced areas for new economy.
