ABSTRACT
Introduction This chapter offers a critical perspective on the instrumental use of arts and creative practices for the purposes of urban regeneration, in contrast to vernacular and everyday culture and exchange. opening with the dialectical perspectives of Raymond Williams (‘community culture’) and Richard Florida (‘creative class’), the move from community arts to social inclusion, and from cultural to creative industries is charted in the context of British urban and cultural policy regimes. Within this discussion, challenges to vernacular creative practices and places are presented, with examples of how culture is treated in flagship developments. The chapter concludes with a discussion of the forms of resistance by artists and others to the commodification of the everyday and the perils of co-optation by the regeneration process.
