GIUV2025-677
The Research Group on City, Public Spaces, and Culture (CICU) is dedicated to analyzing contemporary urban dynamics from an interdisciplinary perspective, where culture, public space, and urban life converge. Our primary goal is to explore essential issues for the development of 21st-century cities, addressing both the challenges and opportunities faced by urban communities in a context of constant transformation.
Our research lines tackle urgent, well-established, and emerging urban issues such as gentrification, displacement, citizen participation in cultural management, and the impact of urban art on social transformation. The topics studied by CICU aim to identify and analyze key factors affecting the quality of life in urban environments, providing a framework for a deeper understanding of the dynamics influencing communities.
Our approach is characterized by its pursuit of innovation and a focus on practical action. Beyond understanding urban and cultural phenomena, we seek to propose solutions and practical strategies that address current urban challenges. From participatory design of inclusive public spaces to the promotion of cultural policies that foster diversity and...The Research Group on City, Public Spaces, and Culture (CICU) is dedicated to analyzing contemporary urban dynamics from an interdisciplinary perspective, where culture, public space, and urban life converge. Our primary goal is to explore essential issues for the development of 21st-century cities, addressing both the challenges and opportunities faced by urban communities in a context of constant transformation.
Our research lines tackle urgent, well-established, and emerging urban issues such as gentrification, displacement, citizen participation in cultural management, and the impact of urban art on social transformation. The topics studied by CICU aim to identify and analyze key factors affecting the quality of life in urban environments, providing a framework for a deeper understanding of the dynamics influencing communities.
Our approach is characterized by its pursuit of innovation and a focus on practical action. Beyond understanding urban and cultural phenomena, we seek to propose solutions and practical strategies that address current urban challenges. From participatory design of inclusive public spaces to the promotion of cultural policies that foster diversity and social cohesion, we are committed to generating knowledge with a positive and tangible impact on urban life.
Within this framework, CICU delves into the interaction between citizenship, public spaces, and cultural expressions through participatory methodologies. We use tools such as visual analysis, participatory photography, in-depth interviews, and urban ethnography to explore how public spaces reflect and shape the cultural diversity of cities. Additionally, we investigate how communities appropriate and transform these spaces according to their needs and cultural expressions. Simultaneously, we employ quantitative methodologies, such as structured surveys and statistical analyses, to capture perceptions, behaviors, and usage patterns of public spaces in various urban and cultural contexts.
Our interdisciplinary perspective incorporates approaches such as urban and cultural sociology, anthropology, architecture, and cultural studies. This breadth allows us to comprehensively address the interactions between the city, public spaces, and culture. In this context, a gender perspective is established as a transversal axis across all our research lines, ensuring that gender dynamics are considered at every stage of analysis and reflection.
CICU's ultimate objective is to provide a deep and enriched understanding of the interactions between culture, citizenship, and public space, with the aim of contributing to the design of inclusive urban policies that promote cultural diversity, strengthen the social fabric in urban communities, and ensure the effective exercise of cultural rights. This approach prioritizes citizen participation in cultural processes, encouraging their involvement in both the creation and management of public spaces in cities.
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- Analizar las dinamicas urbanas y culturales contemporaneas desde una perspectiva interdisciplinaria
- Abordar problematicas urbanas urgentes, consolidadas y emergentes, mediante investigaciones aplicadas
- Diseñar estrategias innovadoras y practicas para el desarrollo urbano y cultural inclusivo
- Desarrollar y aplicar metodologias participativas cualitativas y cuantitativas
- Incorporar enfoques interseccionales y transversales en los analisis urbanos y culturales
- Gentrification, culture and urban displacement.Research is conducted into how gentrification affects urban culture and communities, focusing on displaced communities and their strategies for cultural resistance, as well as the impact on public spaces and cultural life in neighbourhoods.
- Art in public spaces and social transformation.It explores how urban art can be a tool for addressing social issues, promoting cultural diversity and creating spaces for encounter and interaction. It also examines the impact of public art on the revitalisation and social cohesion of cities and public spaces.
- Impact of cultural policies on urban revitalization.The analysis examines how cultural policies can contribute to urban revitalisation, improving the quality of life of residents. It also studies the co-creation of local cultural policies, involving local residents in decision-making in their communities.
- Urban cultures, generations, human care and public spaces.Cultural practices and identities in different urban environments are explored, including subcultures, migrants and ethnic communities. The role of different generational groups and people with disabilities in urban life and the configuration of identities is also investigated.
- Cultural rights and citizen participation.The study examines how citizen participation strengthens the protection and promotion of cultural diversity in the city, as well as the impact of cultural practices on social cohesion. It also investigates innovative experiences of integrating cultural rights into urban governance.
- Neighborhood culture, inhabiting public space and local communities.Participatory research is carried out in urban neighbourhoods to understand local needs, values and experiences. Cultural and community resistance to gentrification is also analysed, as well as experiences of living in the city.
- Digitalization of public space: technology, culture and urban life.It focuses on analysing the use of digital technologies in the design, management and perception of urban public spaces, as well as how digital citizen participation influences decision-making and inclusion in urban life.
| Name | Nature of participation | Entity | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| RICARDO KLEIN CABALLERO | Director | Universitat de València | |
| Research team | |||
| MARIA GARCIA MUÑOZ | Member | Universitat de València | |
| ANDREA RUIZ GONZALEZ | Member | Universitat de València | |
| JOAQUIM RIUS ULLDEMOLINS | Collaborator | Universitat de València | |
| AIDA VIZCAINO ESTEVAN | Collaborator | Universitat de València | |
| GLORIA MARIA CARAVANTES LOPEZ DE LERMA | Collaborator | Universitat de València | |
| MARIA PATRICIO MULERO | Collaborator | Université Paris VIII | graduate teaching assistant |
| PAU DIAZ SOLANO | Collaborator | Desconocida | professor |
| MONIQUE LEIVAS VARGAS | Collaborator | Universitat de València | |
| MARIANELA FERNANDEZ VILLA | Collaborator | Universitat de València - Estudi General | UVEG PhD student |
| MARTA CASALS BALAGUER | Collaborator | Universitat de Barcelona | professor |
| JUAN MANUEL BUENO CARVAJAL | Collaborator | Fundación de la Comunidad Valenciana Universidad Internacional de Valencia | temporary lecturer |
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