The morphogenesis of art districts: Case studies of Williamsburg, NYC and 798, Beijing

This paper will develop a general framework for the cultural evolution of art districts based on empirical research from different global city-regions. It will go beyond gentrifying approaches, which tend to focus on the decline of an art district or area but do not relate this transformation to the overall evolution of a city.
The framework is based on the evolutionary concept of morphogenesis as the formation of increased social complexity. This build-up of complexity will be illustrated through stages through which art districts develop and the inherent logic which contributes to their decline, discussing each stage’s morphogenetic features, shedding light on the embedding of districts into urban centres and on urban change.
This paper will compare the development of Williamsburg, New York City, and 798, Beijing. These cases were analysed through a Grounded Theory approach, with the aim to advance our understanding of urban cultural evolution with regard to developing an approach beyond gentrification.