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THE ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL REVIEW
Boxion project, like others of its ilk, raises a number of issues: first, there is no
doubt that the shop fronts contribute to the aestheticisation of the street level.
They look very good, and it is possible that their presence makes the street
more pleasant and safer in the eyes of the local residents. But on the other
hand, the shops are not inviting in the sense that they do not sell essential
goods, nor do they look like places where people can come to browse. There is
some confusion here as to whether these are actually shops or simply work
spaces for artists/artisans/cultural workers. Arts and culture generally thrive
through state subsidy and private patronage. They are much less successful
when left to the vagaries of the marketplace. The question that must be raised
in relation to Boxion is whether it is actually about creating subsidised
working spaces for cultural workers, rather than a commercially sustainable
sector in the neighbourhood? Put another way, is this local state funded project
really about provided a public good rather than a mechanism for commercial
regeneration? Zukin and Kosta’s work on the vibrant renewal of East Ninth
Street in the East Village, New York City is instructive here. They points out
that the success of that street can be explained by the clustering of “new”
industries, the opportunity to build further on an existing “boho” brand
identity in the neighbourhood and a critical mass of consumers and tourists in
the locality, (2004, p. 113). None of these factors can be said to prevail in the
Boxhanger Platz neighbourhood which is home to the Boxion project. In
contrast, the Temple Bar cultural regeneration project in Dublin has
succeeded precisely because it has been able to deliver the requisite numbers
of consumers and tourists. Following the template of New York’s Soho, the
Temple Bar Development company sought to re-invent Temple Bar in the
1990s. Building on a brand identity as an “arts quarter”, new cultural
buildings were commissioned and generous tax incentives were made
available to investors, owner-occupiers and renters in the area. Ultimately the
sustainability of the Temple Bar area has rested not on its cultural cache as
was the original intent, but on the significant numbers of consumers and
tourists that are attracted there, (Corcoran, 1998). Inevitably, the capacity to
attract tourists and consumers is a vital part of a regeneration equation.
Public money can help to regenerate a street or a public space or a heritage
building but it can only succeed if it can be made commercially attractive to
investors and subsequently, consumers. It is not easy to get the formula right.
A Dublin scheme that is similar to the Boxion project in Berlin in terms of
focusing on partnerships with the local business community has had very
limited success. The Living Over The Shop scheme (LOTS) was introduced in
2001. The objectives of the scheme were to provide additional residential
units, achieve greater economic use of retail premises, promote a living urban
environment and promote more sustainable use of existing building stock and