Cultura e criatividade: rua Sapucaí e a produção contemporânea do espaço

Abstract

Sapucaí Street went through a change in the last 10 years. It went from an ordinary street from a residential neibourghood to an effervescent cultural point of the city, being even know as an urban art viewpoint. Furthermore, the city of Belo Horizonte received in October 2019 the title of creative city given by Unesco, under the pillar of gastronomy. In that sense, Sapucaí connects with this title for being a street with varied restaurants and bars, also for hosting events that reaffirms said title. Culture and creativity are two concepts present in the study that converge and can be materialized through the analysis of Sapucaí Street as its support. Therefore, this study has as a goal to discuss how culture and creativity, which in many moments are combined and intertwined, has altered the urban space and how planning uses these concepts to shape the contemporary city. We concluded that this transformation is not due to only one agency. However, it is inserted in a process of urban production of space that absorbs culture as a vector of planning and that now merge with creativity. Not only to dialogue with some sector of society but also to align to a global discourse that enhances economic development. For the analysis we combined theorical discussions of concepts aligned to our study and practical questions raised by the relevant events that happened on the street; additionally, we had semi open interviews and used official documents and non-orthodox sources. We concluded that the concept of creativity absorbed the notion of culture. The Sapucaí street shows us the materialization on space of the combination of culture with creativity, of a strategical planning that utilizes culture to create a city that searches for investment based on the creation of its own image.