A citizen by culture – Ghent’s bid to give everybody a sense of belonging

The city wants to institute Cultural Free Ports – spaces with minimal oversight, collective management and a mandate for innovation

Last week, authorities in Ghent, Belgium, unveiled their new strategy to nab the prestigious title European Capital of Culture 2030. The Gent2030 strategy has two key features of local cultural development:

One – to use culture on a neighbourhood level to promote a sense of belonging among a disassociated populace.

And two – to create so-called ‘cultural free ports’ – city-owned spaces with minimal regulation, which are collectively managed by the artists that use them.

A citizen-driven sense of belonging

According to a statement by the team that developed the strategy, living space and decent employment conditions will continue to become more and more scarce. In turn, this would lead to an even greater influx of people in cities, as concentrated nodes of energy.

Furthermore, they state that the 21^st century has become an age of displacement, as an unprecedented number of people flee war, climate change, totalitarian regimes and poverty. These people are driven into cities as refugees and migrants and find themselves dissociated and alienated from their adopted homes.

Thus, the city wants to develop a free and open playing field, where all newcomers can contribute their culture to the shared public spaces. Out of this, authorities hope to foster a sense of belonging, through the creation of a free cultural melting pot. This initiative, additionally, aims to build upon the success of the European Capital of Youth 2021.

Cultural free ports – a concept for city-run collectives

The idea for ‘Cultural Free Ports’ stems from the concept of Economic Free Ports – special economic zones, usually cities or neighbourhoods, where there is a notable lack of regulations. Removing regulations in a specific area aims to promote business growth and development, making the port a magnet for worldwide companies and talent.

At the same time, Free Ports are usually limited to a specific area, so they do not disrupt the otherwise high standard of life and business transparency in the country.

Cultural Free Ports wants to emulate that concept in the cultural sector. However, instead of cordoning off a massive area of Ghent and devoting it to culture, the city wants to use multiple smaller areas.

They also want to have minimal regulation and oversight in these spaces to promote experimentation and the proliferation of disruptive ideas, through cultural and social experiments.

These cultural refuges should, in turn, be collectively managed, accessible and demand maximum participation of all involved parties. However, Ghent is already a very urbanised region and there is little available land. This is why authorities propose efforts to focus on the city’s riverfront with docks and warehouses.

Additionally, the team that developed the strategy explained in a press release that these spaces can serve as a beacon of vibrant, artistic hope. They continued by explaining that Ghent is not a big city, nor is it 'small but nice', but as an age-old port, it is a city of rebellion and contrarianism, of cooperatives and abbeys. It has already more than proven its resilience and imagination.