At a time when the Covid-19 health crisis and recent anti-racist demonstrations are shaking the world, urban and social issues are all the more exacerbated. Artists, urbanists, entrepreneurs, public authority representatives and researchers have been involved in the Oakland / Saint-Denis Cooperation Project to observe the ways in which cities work in France and California.
The fruit of cross-exchange study trips in 2019, the work puts forward two central ideas : to reaffirm the role of culture in a city’s fabric (to be as close as possible to where it is needed, to question its meaning and encourage what is shared), and to resist the pressure of real estate development through public and private levers so that the cultural premises on the territory can survive and be sustained. While collectively advocating an enthusiastic mobilisation, the work encourages both private and public professionals in the cities to seize these ways of functioning and practical means and to invent the next steps.
Remembering how social and urban issues are interwoven, the work proposes to rethink the principles of urban action in terms of its ability to reduce social and racial inequalities, to improve the well-being of inhabitants and more broadly to produce social value. From the fight against inequalities of the Downtown Oakland Specific Plan to the empowerment of inhabitants with Destiny Arts Center and the Maison Jaune (Yellow House) or by proposing new cooperative models at Main d’Oeuvre (Workforce), the 6b, Safer DYI and CAST, the publication offers a panoramic view of the diverse cultural and urban landscapes of both territories and shares economic, cultural and legal solutions and innovations that could very well be transposed to the large scale.
This collective, bi-lingual publication was coproduced by the City of San Francisco, Légendes Urbaines and California Humanities in the context of the cooperation project between the cities of Oakland and Saint-Denis.
With the contribution of Émilie Moreau for Apur.
For more information on the cooperation project visit the dedicated website.
The work is also available in a printed version and can be ordered by mail from the French American Cultural Society (for the cost of €16 in the form of a donation).