The Creation of a Second Centre Pompidou in Metz: Social Embedding of a New Regional Cultural Facility and Formation of a Strategic Action Field

Abstract

The present article analyses the process of the creation of a second Centre Pompidou outside Paris, based on the hypothesis that the success of the project depends on its social embeddedness. It is argued that a strong indicator of this embeddedness is the emergence of a new strategic action field-crystallizing the meeting and linking of different actors with divergent interests, but shared understandings about the common stakes. The process starts from a coincidence of cultural, political and economic motives that have their origins in related fields. These different interests are promoted by a few key protagonists who negotiate a preliminary, but still fragile social order, mixing idealistic ideas and values with political and economic issues. The analysis reveals that social institutions of French culture exert a strong influence, while internal governance units in Paris retain significant powers of control. Although new network connections seem to form smoothly around the Centre Pompidou-Metz globally in the region, in both the cultural and the economic domain they have developed quite unevenly.

Cultural tourism as a tool for transformation in small and medium-sized towns

“…This resulted while pursuing a decentralization strategy given that, traditionally, Paris has very much dominated in terms of French cultural offerings. A study by Krauss (2015) reveals that while the Centre Pompidou-Metz quickly developed a certain degree of embeddedness in the cultural networks of the region, this was not the case with regard to the economic actors. Soon after the new museum opened, most of the region's firms were unable to make significant use of the spaces of interaction offered by the centre for their networking.…”

“…Soon after the new museum opened, most of the region's firms were unable to make significant use of the spaces of interaction offered by the centre for their networking. It is worth noting that, thus far, the only measurable direct impact on economic behaviour and activity relates to tourism-oriented economic sectors (Krauss, 2015).…”

A Research Agenda for Small and Medium-Sized Towns

“…This resulted while pursuing a decentralization strategy given that, traditionally, Paris has very much dominated in terms of French cultural offerings. A study by Krauss (2015) reveals that while the Centre Pompidou-Metz quickly developed a certain degree of embeddedness in the cultural networks of the region, this was not the case with regard to the economic actors. Soon after the new museum opened, most of the region's firms were unable to make significant use of the spaces of interaction offered by the centre for their networking.…”

Contextualising Urban Experimentation: Analysing the Utopiastadt Campus Case with the Theory of Strategic Action Fields

“…The theory is rooted in institutional theory, network analysis, and Giddens' structuration theory, and builds on Bourdieu's ideas of habitus, field, and capital, as well as on social movement scholarship (Fligstein & McAdam, 2012. It is used to analyse social and political phenomena, including policy fields (Stecker, 2015) and governance processes in energy transitions and urban development (Domaradzka & Wijkström, 2016;Fuchs & Hinderer, 2014;Krauss, 2015). By focusing on the dynamics of conflict and change, the theory of SAFs provides concepts to analyse urban actors, their actions, and contexts in complex urban development issues (see Section 2).…”